Hunter or Hunted?
by SwannTurner
Summary: Kyoko Hitoshi almost gets killed by a vampire, but is saved by Zero Kiryu. When things go wrong and she finds out his secret, will she fear him and run away? Review or Zero will use you for target practice. Please? Reviews make the world go round.
1. The Stranger

The Stranger

Kyoko made her way along the dimly lit street sidewalk. Her long black hair flowed behind her. It was exceedingly rare for it to be down instead of in its traditional ponytail. The tie she usually used to hold it back was temporarily residing on her right wrist. She wore a dark green hoodie, a white tank top, jeans, and her favorite pair of tennis shoes. A cool April breeze blew over Kyoko, making several strands of hair fall into her face. Sighing loudly, she brushed them aside.

_Where's that stupid convenience store?! It's not very convenient to find!_

She turned to read the name of the store right next to her: _Dusty's Cleaners._

_That's kind of an oxymoron. Oh, I give up! My craving for pickled plum riceballs stopped twenty minutes ago! I better go home, it's probably around 11:30 right now._

Feeling a bit ticked off that she'd spent over half an hour trying to find a convenience store that was open at that hour, Kyoko continued down the street.

_Maybe there will be one more train tonight._

When she was three blocks from the train station, Kyoko got this strange, prickling feeling, as if someone was watching her. Stopping on front of the closest storefront, she looked at the window as of she were window shopping during the midnight special. Then, rotating so she could see all the other stores she'd passed, Kyoko saw a single figure sidling down the sidewalk half a block away. Kyoko turned and continued down the sidewalk.

_Probably just some drunk person._

She did not want to deal with some random drunk idiot who happened to be going down the same street as herself. If there was one species she didn't deal with, it was drunk people. But something in the back of her mind told Kyoko that this guy wasn't normal.

Quickening her pace ever so slightly, Kyoko made it to the end of the block. She looked all around as if checking for traffic. Kyoko saw that the guy was still trailing behind her, only about ten feet closer now.

_Don't get all paranoid, Kyoko. He's probably just some drunk wondering around. Just cross the street, get on the train, and go home. Besides, if he tries anything, I can take him on, I'm not a weak little school girl._

When she was two blocks away from the station, a second figure came around the corner of the street she was on, and headed right for her. Again she had a weird feeling about this one as well. Feeling just a little paranoid because she was a) the middle of a street, b) alone, c) in the middle of the night, and d) the only other people in the area were coming at her from both directions.

Slipping into the closest alley, Kyoko sped along, took a left behind a building and then a right. When she turned the corner, she saw her path obscured by a building, a dead end.

_Dang it._

Kyoko quickly did a 180 and immediately collided with someone. Looking up, she saw he was the one who had been trailing her for two blocks.

He was a few inches taller than Kyoko and slender, but not skinny. His blond hair was very short on the sides, with the longer hair spiked on top. The stranger wore ragged jeans and a dark hoodie. He looked like he was in his early twenties, twenty-five at the latest. What really caught Kyoko's attention were his eyes. They were very dark, almost black. And they gave off this feeling like they weren't quite human. He was alone, so she could fight him off if she needed to.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were there," Kyoko quickly apologized and tried to sidestep him. Usually she would have chewed him out for walking so closely behind her without a second thought, but the vibes she was getting from him told her she would be lucky to get out of there without a fight.

The man grabbed her wrist as she passed him and pulled her back. Kyoko tried to pull her wrist free, but his grip was like iron.

_Oh, snap. This isn't a drunk guy. His grip is too unyielding to belong to someone who's intoxicated._

"And just where do you think you're going, little lady?" the man sneered at her.

_Oh it looks like I'm not going to get out of this one. Might as well cut the innocent act._

_"And what concern is it of yours?" she shot back._

"I would just hate, after pursuing you for several blocks, to lose my meal."

_What?!_

The man pulled Kyoko so that her back faced the wall a few feet behind her and he was in front of her.

"You see, I had the luck to run into you this evening, so I followed you, waiting for an opportunity to pounce. After a while, you seemed to realize I was behind you. Then one of my kind showed up unexpectedly, and I feared he would take you from me."

"Your kind?" Kyoko inquired. She was still kind of hung up on him calling her "a meal". It took a lot to make her speechless, and this would probably fit into that category.

"Oh, forgive me, prey, for you appear to not understand the situation at hand. I'm sure when you first saw me, you probably thought I was a drunk, right? But I assure you," he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I am much,_ much_ more dangerous than a drunk."

He pulled his head back away from Kyoko's. Not to be undermined, Kyoko wouldn't let him scare her.

"I'm sure I could take you on," she claimed, hoping she didn't sound like she was bluffing, which she wasn't. She could take on just about any guy in a fight and win. Kyoko was trying to, in fact, sound a little cocky.

The stranger sighed. "apparently you still don't understand the situation. I'm not like other people, in fact, I'm not even human. I'm a creature of the night, I fear no one, I am feared by all."

He paused.

"I'm a vampire."

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	2. The Vampire

The Vampire

_The stranger sighed. "Apparently you still don't understand the situation. I'm not like other people, in fact, I'm not even human. I'm a creature of the night, I fear no one, I am feared by all."_

_He paused._

_"I'm a vampire."_

* * *

With that, he gave an evil, knowing smile, sneer like in nature. His teeth showed, and Kyoko could see a pair of longer, pointier, fang-like teeth. She suddenly realized what his eyes reminded her of: the eyes of an animal. A killer. A hunter.

Kyoko took a small step back in surprise, and hoped he hadn't noticed. She could easily hold her own against guys, human guys, but she'd had no experience with non humans. A vampire?

The vampire advance slowly toward her, eyes suddenly flashing red. Kyoko back up until her back was pressed against the wall.

"I see you finally understand your position. Aren't you going to beg, plead for your life?"

Kyoko just stared him down, still trying to think of possible ways of escape, but she was trapped no matter how she looked at it: there was a solid wall at her back, a thirsting vampire in front of her getting closer by the second. In the off chance that she could get past him, he could probably outrun her.

"No, I guess you wouldn't, you seem to have too much pride for that. That's good. Thickens the blood it does. Too often do I find prey, weak humans, so selfish and greedy they'll try anything: offer themselves up as slaves, find and bring me other humans whenever I get...thirsty. I even had a young woman offer up her own child to me. Just goes to show how _pathetic_ and _fragile _humans are."

The vampire took another step toward her. Reaching for a strand of her ebony hair, he sniffed it, drawling, "But you're different, aren't you? Most young girls scream and run in vain, all the while crying out for help that isn't going to come. But their blood is so weak, so...unsatisfying."

He grabbed her right wrist and held it as if he would bite it, and Kyoko tried to wrest it out of he grip. Instead, he pressed his nose against the inside of her wrist and inhaled deeply. A look of ecstasy and longing washed over his face like a tidal wave on the sand.

"You see, your blood smells so tantalizing to me, so irresistible. Like pure, ice-cold water to a water-deprived man."

The vampire drew his tongue across the skin covering Kyoko's veins as if trying to absorb her blood through her skin. Kyoko whipped her hand back, her hair tie snapping as his fingernails caught on it.

"What about the other...vampire?" she gasped.

"Oh. Him. We came to a quick agreement before I caught up to you. He was weak, so he either had to agree to my conditions or look elsewhere. I told him I would _allow_ him to finish what's left of you after I'm finished." he articulated.

The fear that was starting to creep into her veins was instantly pushed aside by a sudden flare of rage.

"What the heck do you think I _am_?! Your _chew toy_?! Kyoko snapped.

He cocked his head slightly to the side, stroked her hair and purred, "No, my dinner."

Then he leaned forward, agonizingly slow, pulled back her hair and pressed his lips to her neck. Kyoko stiffened, fear quickly making a comeback. Quick as lightning, the vampire's tongue flicked across her skin as if tasting where he would bite, making Kyoko shudder. Fear consumed her entire body, paralyzing her, nothing would move. She didn't even know if she was breathing. Her eyes were wide open and for once in her life, Kyoko was terrified. As a kid, she'd never been afraid of anything. And now here she, petrified, unable to move. Now she was going to die die and there was nothing she could do because she was scared. She almost wanted to beg, this was so unexpected.

Almost.

_No. You have too much pride. Don't give in. Don't you dare give this bloodsucking murderer the satisfaction of scaring _you.

The vampire drew his tongue very slowly across her neck, sending icy shivers down her back. Then he opened his mouth and pressed his fangs against her neck, ready to bite. She could feel the points, sharp as knives. Kyoko took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

She heard a bang and felt her hair fall from the vampire's hand as the pinpoint pressure from her neck ceased and she sank to her knees. Kyoko's eyes snapped open just in time to see the vampire's body turn to dust, and watched it settle to the ground. The sound of shoes crunching on the ground nearly made Kyoko jump out of her skin. She looked up and saw a young man walking toward her. His gray eyes were half-concealed behind several strands of silver-gray hair. Part of a strange symbol tattooed on his neck was visible, but his high collar from his coat hid most of it. Several small hoops were punched into his ears. He was tall, perhaps a couple inches taller than Kyoko, and she was tall for her age. His pants were dark and the shirt he wore was stark white. And in his right hand by his side, still smoking, was...

A gun.

Silver and deadly-looking, the handgun had the words "Bloody Rose" carved into the muzzle. The guy looked like he was about Kyoko's age, in her late teens. Somewhere in the back of her mind, miles away, she secretly thought he looked too young to own a gun, legally at least.

He stopped two feet away from Kyoko and held out his hand.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Kyoko hesitantly took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. Her legs felt like jelly and was so unsteady on her feet that she almost fell over, but the silver-haired guy held her steady by her shoulder.

"Thanks," she managed to squeeze out.

_Who is he?_

"Are you okay?" he repeated.

"Yeah," Kyoko tried to assure him, "I'm fine-"

Suddenly, it was as if Kyoko couldn't breathe, she fell to the ground, gasping for air. Trying to swallow great lungfuls of the cool night air, Kyoko's vision started to fade to black until it eventually swallowed her up completely.

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	3. His Secret

His Secret

When Kyoko squinted through her eyelashes, she noticed that her face was pressed against someone's shoulder that she was moving. Upon opening her eyes further, she realized the head of the person carrying her long, silver-gray hair.

_It must be that guy from before._

All of a sudden, the events of that evening came rushing back to her. The two figures. The alley. The vampire. His mouth on her neck about to bite. The silver-haired guy with the smoking gun. And the blackness, enveloping her in its menacing hold. A sudden thought entered her mind about the man carrying her.

_What if he's a vampire too? Is he taking me somewhere where _he_ can drink my blood?_

Kyoko pushed and tried to get the guy to drop her.

"Calm down," he said in a cool, low voice, "I'm just taking you somewhere where you can get some rest. Don't worry, I won't do anything scary to you."

She still struggled to break free from his grasp.

He sighed. "If I was going to kill you, don't you think I would have done so back in the alley?'

_I guess he does have a point. Oh well, I'm too exhausted to keep this up for much longer anyway._

Giving up, Kyoko ceased her struggles and countered, "If you're not going to let me go, then can you at least let me walk?"

"No way. You're in no condition to exert yourself." he argued. "Besides, we're almost there, so you'll just have to bear with me for a little while longer."

He continued carrying her on his back halfway down the street they were on, turned and went up a set of steps into a housing complex. After traveling up two flights of stairs, they arrived at his apartment, 305.

Once inside, he brought Kyoko to the living room and laid her on the couch.

"Geez, I feel like such a wuss, fainting back there and all," Kyoko admitted while sitting up. "Thank you so much for saving me. By the way, I'm Kyoko. Kyoko Hitoshi."

"Zero. Zero Kiryuu," he contributed. "Don't worry about earlier. It's no surprise that you went into shock after what happened. If you hadn't I would have thought you weren't human. You're a tough young woman."

"So how did you find me?" Kyoko inquired.

"Well," Zero started while sitting down in a wooden chair he'd brought in from the kitchen, and draped his coat across the back. "I was on duty. You see, I'm a vampire hunter, so whenever insane, bloodthirsty vampires, or Level E's as we hunters call them, are around we, well," he gestured at the _Bloody Rose_ on the coffee table, "take care of them."

"So that gun can kill vampires?"

"Yes. Although it's completely ineffective against humans."

"I see."

Looking around, Kyoko noticed that the entire apartment was white. White walls, white furniture, what little furniture there was, only the bare necessities. It was completely nonexistent of color. The only exception was the floor, which seemed to be made of a dark wood.

"So...you don't decorate much, huh?" noted Kyoko.

"Yeah, I just don't have the time," Zero said offhandedly.

"Really? You live alone, right?" He nodded. "What do you do about school, then. Have you graduated?"

"Yeah, I just graduated a couple of weeks ago. I missed a year, and had to repeat it, so I was the only nineteen year-old graduate. My parents died seven years ago, so I live alone."

"Hm, well you seen to me like the kind of person who won't let himself get close to anyone. A masochist almost, who punishes himself for something from long ago that you haven't quite forgiven yourself for," she trailed off.

Kyoko shot him a glance. "Am I right?"

"Kind of. Now it's your turn. Tell me about yourself," Zero changed the subject abruptly, clearly it was a sore spot.

"I'm a nineteen year-old living by myself in an apartment as well. I write for an online newspaper as a job. My parents wanted me to marry someone of high stature of their choosing. You know, the whole get-married-as-soon-as-you-graduate-and-have-kids-asap blah blah blah. As you could probably guess, that wasn't what I wanted, so I left and started living on my own. I haven't contacted them for about a year now."

"Hm. Well, now maybe you could tell me how on earth you foolishly managed to end up with a bloodthirsty vampire at your throat in the middle of the night."

Kyoko was ticked off.

"Well, for your information, the reason I was outside after eleven was because I was in my apartment and suddenly I had an enormous craving for pickled plum riceballs, okay? I didn't have any pickled plum in my apartment, so since I couldn't make them myself, I was going out to find a convenience store nearby that I knew sold them. I must have gotten lost and was going to take a train home when I thought someone was following me. When I turned around, there was a figure walking about half a block behind me. After a couple blocks, someone else was coming from up the street, so I ducked in an alley to lose them. Then I walked into a dead end and was trapped by that vampire and-" Kyoko shuddered at the memory of the vampire's lips on her skin.

"Anyway, you still haven't told me how you found me, Zero."

"Well," Zero began, "I got a call that two Level E's were around. I followed the second one that you saw and after his deal with your would-be killer, I killed him with the _Bloody Rose_. Then I found you, killed the other vampire and brought you here, he concluded. "Answer your question?"

"Yeah."

Kyoko reached into the pocket of her jeans, pulled out an extra hair tie, and threw her hair up in a ponytail. A few rogue strands fell back on her face.

"Ugh, that's better," she sighed. "I rarely ever have my hair down. It bugs me too much."

A sudden, urgent matter popped into her head.

"Uh, Zero, can I use you bathroom?"

He gave her a doubtful look.

"I'm not gonna collapse in your bathroom, okay?" Kyoko insisted. "Look, I'm fine."

She stood up and took a couple steps away from the couch. "See?"

Zero gave in with a sigh.

"First door on the left."

"Thanks."

After finishing up in Zero's bathroom, which was plainer than day(who would've guessed), Kyoko headed back to the living room.

"See?" she told Zero, "I'm perfectly fine."

Just to prove her point, she did a quick spin in front of the couch, but she spun too fast and lost her balance. As she fell, Zero leaped from his chair and pushed her onto the couch. He misjudged all of the physics involved and fell after her.

They both landed on the couch. Zero lay on top of Kyoko, face pressed into her neck. She could feel her pulse pounding against him.

Suddenly, Zero gasped and jumped straight off the couch. He was clutching the spot on his neck where his tattoo was.

"Zero, what's wrong? I'm okay, you didn't hurt me," Kyoko tried to assure him.

Gritting his teeth, Zero ran to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Kyoko quickly followed him.

"Zero? What's wrong? Was it something I did?" she spoke to the closed door.

Go away," he rasped from the other side. "Leave me alone."

She tried the door. It was locked.

"Come on, Zero, open up," she pleaded.

No response came from inside.

"Fine. If you don't open this door right now, I'll force it open," she threatened.

When the door remained closed, Kyoko took a step back and kicked it, making the door bang on the wall as it swung in.

Zero was slumped at the sink. His shirt was unbuttoned and his hair was wet from splashing water on his face. Kyoko could see thin, red lines where his nails had dug across his tattoo.

"Zero, what's going on?"

Kyoko was worried. Something was definitely wrong with the silver-haired boy before her.

"Get out!" Zero snarled. "Get away from me, Kyoko!"

She ran over to him and made him look at her.

"Zero, what's wro-"

_Oh my gosh. What's happening to him?! His eyes-_

His eyes had changed. They were no longer cool gray. They were red, blood red.

"...Zero?" Kyoko whispered.

"I'm a vampire!" Zero spat. "A filthy, blood-lusting vampire!"

his right hand was clenched around the tattoo on the left side of his neck. The left was gripping his forehead as if to stop himself from attacking her, which her probably was. His teeth were clenched tight and Kyoko could see his fangs.

"But you're a vampire _hunter_," restated Kyoko, confused.

"I'm from a famous family of hunters. Seven years ago, a pureblood vampire killed my parents and bit me, damning me to an extended life of bloodlust," recounted Zero with malice. "Now I'm just like those blood-sucking murderers who wanted to kill you."

"No, you're not," interrupted Kyoko. "You are _nothing_ like them. They just wanted my blood because they thought it would taste good, but you...you're _dying_ for it."

A slow realization eased its way into her mid, and she took a few seconds to weigh her options. Taking a deep breath, Kyoko tugged off her hoodie, standing in her tank top. Zero slipped to the floor. The hoodie had muffled the sound of Kyoko's pulse a little, and with it gone, there was nothing to stop Zero from being blasted with the sound.

"What are you doing?!" he gasped. "Do you have any idea how much harder you just made it for me to resist lunging at you?!"

Kyoko crouched by side side.

"I can only imagine, but I'm going to end your pain Zero, at least for a little while."

She moved her ponytail so it rested on her left shoulder, making a large bare spot on the right side of her neck.

"Are you suicidal?!" Zero hissed. "You're not going to do what I think you're-"

"I'm doing exactly that," she confirmed. "You need blood, and it's the least I can do after you saved me earlier."

"So you're going to have me turn around and do exactly what I tried to prevent from happening in the alley?" he scoffed.

"Only you're not trying to kill me, and I want you to do this."

Looking like he could no longer hold back, Zero slowly rose from the floor. He rested his hands on Kyoko's shoulders and pushed her back until it was against the wall. Zero leaned forward, resting his forehead on the wall above her shoulder.

"I might not be able to stop," he whispered.

"I trust you."

"You could _die_."

"I'm tough, remember?" Kyoko assured him.

Zero pressed hos mouth against Kyoko's neck and she could feel him stiffen. She reached up and held his head where it was. He inhaled deeply.

"Forgive me," Zero wavered, bared his fangs, and bit.

Kyoko gasped in surprise, closed her eyes and held Zero close. She could feel blood flowing from her neck, and hear him gulping it down greedily. She started to feel woozy.

"Zero," she interrupted, "I'm starting to get...dizzy."

He gave no sign that he heard her. She couldn't stand anymore and slid to the floor. Zero followed her down, staying attached to her, still drinking.

_He must have fought it for so long, and then tonight when he felt my pulse, he couldn't control himself anymore._

The edge of her vision was starting to turn black, and Kyoko was finding it difficult to breathe.

"Zero...I can't...no more," she panted between gasps for air. "I'm...sorry."

He finally pulled his head back, terrified at what he'd done, blood dripping from the sides of his mouth. Kyoko's blood. Zero's eyes were back to their normal gray. He looked very worried.

"I" sorry...I couldn't...give you...more," Kyoko apologized. She felt all senses go numb as her mind faded to black.

Kyoko's head fell against Zero's shoulder, and he gave her a rare, silent hug.

"I'm so sorry, Kyoko," he apologized. "And thank you."

**Aw...review!**


	4. The Aftermath

The Aftermath

When she opened her eyes, the first thing Kyoko noticed was that she was o a plain bed in a plain, white room.

_I must be in Zero's apartment still by the decor or lack there of._

"You're awake."

Turning her head, she saw Zero sitting in the chair from the kitchen, he had moved it to the bedside.

_He must have been worried._

Kyoko attempted to sit up, but Zero pushed her back down lightly.

"You need to rest," he ordered. "You...lost...a lot of blood. ...Does it...hurt?" He gestured to her neck. "Where I bit you?"

She touched the spot gingerly. It was wrapped in a long bandage, and only slightly sore.

"Jeez, Zero, I don't need a freaking bandage! A simple band aid would do. Here, help me take this off."

He leaned forward and gently unwrapped the bandage, wincing slightly and apologizing whenever his fingers touched the bite mark.

"It's okay, I don't even feel it," she comforted.

Underneath the bandage, Zero had already placed a band aid

"I needed to stop the bleeding while I was wrapping it up. I didn't think it would be safe for you to lose any more blood."

"You were really thirsty. How long did you hold back?" Kyoko questioned.

"Three years."

"What?! You went _three years_ without so much as a _drop_ of blood?! Zero, you can't keep torturing yourself like this-"

"But I hate this," grumbled Zero. "I _hate_ feeling like a monster that craves blood." He took a deep breath. "I didn't want to be this way."

"Zero, it's not your fault that you're a blood-craving vampire. But how can you _live_ like this, _tormenting_ yourself day and night?"

"Because I'm afraid," Zero admitted.

This perplexed Kyoko. In the short twelve hours she'd known him, he didn't seem like anything would scare him. If you placed him in front of a moving train, he probably wouldn't blink.

"I'm afraid that if I drink blood, my will to resist it will be diminished and replaced with an uncontrollable desire. I don't want to turn into a Level E."

Before she could say anything, he stood up and swiftly left the room.

_I hope he isn't running away. I hate it when he does that. He's like a child._

To her surprise, Zero swiftly returned, carrying a small cardboard box. Kyoko raised an eyebrow at it.

"Donuts," he explained, opening the box and setting it beside her. "You need sugar to make up for the blood loss."

She reached in and grabbed one of the icing-covered buns, and bit into it.

_Oo, the jelly-filled kind. Hm, raspberry flavor._

Red jelly oozed from the donut, and Kyoko sucked it up. Zero gave a slight cough and she realized what she must look like: Kyoko Hitoshi, the Great Jelly-Filled Donut Vampire!

"Sorry, Zero," mused the almighty donut vampire.

Zero was silent for a moment while she finished off her pastry.

"I've been thinking about those vampires from last night," he began after a long pause. "They had no connection to each other, but they both found you within minutes of each other. I've never seen two lone Level E's go for the same prey at the same time. So I think that your blood must be like a magnet, attracting vampires. It certainly is delicious," he murmured the last part, and winced after saying it, mentally chastising himself.

"I think that it is too for you to walk around unguarded. So-"

Zero took a deep breath, as if he couldn't believe what he was about to say.

"So I think it would be best if you moved into my apartment and live with me."


	5. Her Awakening Call

Her Awakening Call

Kyoko was astonished.

_Move in with him?!_

"Of course I won't force you, it's your decision, but I think you would be safest here. I'm not calling you weak, but you wouldn't stand much of a chance against a vampire. _No one_ would. Only hunters have had the training to go against them and win. I could provide protection to you, at least until the danger is gone."

"Zero, I-"

"Or, if you prefer, I could have another hunter from the Hunter's Society guard you."

"No way. If you're anything like the other hunters, than I don't want to have to deal with two Zero-like people at the same time."

"If nothing else," he cut in, "at least stay here for a couple days until you're stronger. I've left you weak from feeding off you last night-"

"Zero, come on, it's not that bad," Kyoko insisted.

"You're right," Zero agreed, "it's worse. It's been killing me about last night. _Killing_ me that I lost control."

He held his head in his hands, and Kyoko finally understood everything.

_The white, bare walls, bland rooms, living alone. He's punishing himself for being a vampire._

"Please, if you allow me to guard you, it will help me atone for my sins."

"Zero," Kyoko leaned in, as if to comfort him.

She pulled her hand back and slapped him right across his face. The red spot stuck out like a sore thumb against his gray hair.

"Puh-leez. Give me a break, Zero. Enough is enough. How do you expect to keep living like this? You don't want to let anyone get close because you're afraid you'll lose control and attack them. Caution is good, but you're torturing, yourself, Zero. Alright, I'll stay for a few days, but if you go all mopey on me again, I'll kick your butt into next Tuesday. Got it?"

Zero was visibly relieved.

"If that's what you want then we should go pick up a few things from your apartment, right?"

She had to agree with him on that one. She couldn't expect him to share everything with her, and she needed some new clothes.

"But first, you need to have something else to eat besides donuts. What do you want, I'll make whatever you like."

Kyoko thought for a second and smirked.

Zero raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"How about some pickled plum rice balls?"

He just chuckled, making Kyoko giggle uncontrollably.

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	6. Another Alley

Another Alley

"Well, here we are," Kyoko said plainly, unlocking her apartment door, and letting Zero in. "I know it's ot much, but it's adequate."

It was a small apartment, with only two rooms. The living room had a separated corner that was the kitchen. Zero saw a set of sheets folded haphazardly on Kyoko's couch, along with a pillow.

"You sleep on the couch?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kyoko admitted while grabbing a box, and started stuffing it with her belongings. "It's way cheaper to sleep there than to get a bed."

"Is there anything I can do to help you pack?" Zero offered.

Kyoko closed the box she had filled up. She picked up the box and headed toward the door with it.

"I'm almost done, I just need to grab a few things from the bathroom."

A wave of nausea washed over her, causing her to stumble and almost fall. Zero was instantly by her side, steadying her and taking the box from her hands.

"You have to be more careful, Kyoko. You're still in a weakened state. Don't try to take on too much," he warned her.

"Yes, Dr. Kiryu," said Kyoko, dripping with sarcasm. Even though she knew his words were true, she still didn't like being reminded of it. "I'm fine now, Zero. You can let go of me now."

He removed his hand from her shoulder.

"I'm gonna step outside for a minute. Can you do me a favor and grab my toothbrush and stuff like that for me?" she asked.

"Sure," Zero complied, happy that she was listening to him, at least a little. "Just don't get into trouble."

Kyoko stuck her tongue out at him and closed the door behind her. Once outside, she took a deep breath and sighed.

_It sure is nice to have a moment alone for once. Zero hasn't left me alone since I woke up this morning. I understand why he's concerned, but..._

A sign posted on the brick wall on the corner of the apartment building by the alley caught her attention. She walked over and saw it was a missing person's poster. It depicted a photograph of a young girl with dark shoulder-length hair. Kyoko guessed the girl was perhaps eleven or twelve.

_I hope a vampire didn't get her. She wouldn't stand a chance._

Kyoko reached up and smoothed down the curling corners of the poster. While sliding her right had down, she sliced her middle finger on the edge, giving her a lovely papercut.

_Dang it._

She reached her finger up to her mouth to suck off the blood, but a hand snatched out from the alley and grabbed her hand. It pulled her into the menacing darkness of the shadows. It was surprisingly dark in the alley; it was about three in the afternoon. A hand covered her mouth beofre she could make a sound. She struggled fruitlessly; she was too weak to put up much of a fight against her strong adversary.

"Ah," a deep voice whispered from behind her, "your blood smells so good."

Her captor, male she assumed from his voice, brought her slightly bleeding finger up to hos mouth and licked it clean with one flick of his tongue.

"Even better than I thought. Imagine how wonderful it will taste when it flows freely from your neck."

His face was right next to hers, and Kyoko could see one of his eyes. A bright, red eye.

The eye of a vampire.

A _hungry_ vampire.

* * *

**You know the drill, review!**


	7. Her Fire

Her Fire

Kyoko twisted in the vampire;s grip, trying to break free. He noticed the bandaid on her neck and peeled it off.

"Hm, it appears someone else already got to you. But it seems they were kind enough to leave some for me. I should be thankful for that."

He removed his hand from her mouth and instead held her chin with it, and tilted her head to the right. She could feel his breath on her neck.

_Not again._

Kyoko lifted her foot and kicked him, hard. He loosened his grip for a split second, but immediately resumed his previous hold, only tighter.

"Got a little fight in you, huh?" he cackled. The vampire dragged one of his nails across her neck, leaving a thin, red line. He bent his head and licked it.

A crash sounded from above and a shower of glass rained down around them. Zero dropped down in front of Kyoko, looking slightly annoyed. A piece of glass fell from his shoulder and shattered into even smaller shards on the concrete.

"I thought I told you not to get into trouble," he reminded her.

"Oh, but I just couldn't help myself," Kyoko said sarcastically.

Zero gave a small, rare smile and it made Kyoko nearly forget how much danger she was in.

"And who the heck are you?" inquired the vampire holding Kyoko captive.

"A hunter, and the last you'll ever see," said Zero, raising the _Bloody Rose_ so it was level with his head.

"Is that so?" snarled the vampire. "But I think that you are forgetting that I possess something of yours."

"Let her go," ordered Zero.

"But she would make such a delicious dessert after that yummy little girl from the other day."

"Wait." Kyoko said. "You mean...the girl from the poster...?"

"Oh, yes, she was about as sweet as they come," reminisced the vampire.

Kyoko was outraged.

_An innocent, little, defenseless girl?!_

"Why, you_"

Kyoko jabbed him as hard as she could with both elbows and kicked him. He let go long enough for her to wriggle away from him to Zero. She turned, fire burning in her eyes. Zero shot and hit the Level E in the hip; he sank to the ground, clutching his side. She tried to lunge at him, but Zero held her back.

"Let me go, Zero!" she demanded. "I'm gonna kill him!"

"No, you're not," he stated. "I won't let you."

"Why the heck not?!"

"It's not your place to extinguish this lowlife's life," he explained.

"I don't care! He murdered a little girl! Let me at him!" Kyoko snapped.

Tired from struggled, she stopped and leaned against Zero for support.

"Fine. Then at least let me see that damned red glow leave his eyes," she smoldered.

Zero aimed and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshot filled the alley with its echo. The vampire crumbled to dust.

Panting from exertion, Kyoko turned to face Zero.

"I think you were right. I'm permanently moving in with you."

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**Got reviews?**


	8. The Agreement

**Me: I'm so sorry for making the last few chapters so short! I'm trying to break them off at logical spots and have them all about the same length.**

**Zero: Well, that idea certainly went out the window when you wrote the chapter where I went nuts and drank Kyoko's blood way longer than the other ones. Not to mention every chapter after that has been shorter than the first two.**

**Me: I tried splitting chapter three somewhere, but I couldn't find a good spot! As for the shorter chapters, I tried! If you think it's so easily fixed, why don't you do it?**

**Zero:...**

**Me: That's what I thought.**

**Zero: *rolls eyes in that sexy masochistic way we all love***

**Kyoko: Anyway, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

The Agreement

"No way," Zero objected. "Not a chance."

They had successfully made it back to Zero's apartment without running into any more bloodthirsty vampires eager to take a bite out of Kyoko's neck. Kyoko had requested that they stop at a discount store on the way so she could pick up a few things. She made Zero wait outside, telling him she was going to get some "girl things" and she didn't want him around. When she walked out of the store, he was waiting right at the door.

Now they were back at Zero's apartment. Most of Kyoko's belongings had been brought there; they had spent all afternoon transferring her things. Zero had done some packing for Kyoko while she discussed her moving out with the landlady.

Kyoko was currently unpacking her stuff, storing it in the spaces Zero had cleared for it. She was also trying to convince him to teach her how to fight vampires, which wasn't going so well.

"Come on, Zero. Why not? Give me one good reason," Kyoko challenged.

"One?!" Zero echoed. "I can think of a few. Let's see," he began, counting them off on his hand. "If you saw a vampire, you'd probably try to fight it than to try to get away. A few training sessions won't put you up to par with vampire hunters who've had _years_ of intense training. And lastly, it isn't your responsibility to be burdened with killing those monsters."

He glanced at his had.

"There. _Three_ reasons why you shouldn't get hunter training."

"Yeah, but you're forgetting the _benefits_ that would come with it," argued Kyoko. "If I was attacked when you weren't around, at least I could temporarily stop them so I can escape or hold them off until you get there. And where's the harm in learning self-defense?" she added innocently.

"Self-defense? I'm supposed to believe that you only want me to teach you because you want to be able to defend yourself against vampires?"

Kyoko's eyes wouldn't meet his.

_Crap. Sometimes it's like he can see right through me._

Zero gave her a look that meant he was waiting for an explanation.

"I also want to avenge the innocent people that serve as prey to Level E's. You saw how livid I was earlier. That...demon from before killed a little girl; I saw her missing person's poster, Zero. And when he told, no _gloated_ that he'd killed her, I wanted to rip his guts out. I want monsters like him to experience the pain and fear they cause their victims."

"And that blind rage is exactly what I'm afraid will happen, Kyoko." Zero said. "You'll get like you were this afternoon and lose it. A fair amount of trained hunters have been killed avenging their loved one."

"Zero!" yelled Kyoko. "I'm not a freaking five year-old! I can take care of myself!"

"If you can do that, then why did you move in with me?" he counter.

She took a minute to respond, choosing her words with exceptional care.

"Because you're lonely. You don't let yourself have any friends. And...I want you to teach me to fight so that if I kill a vampire, that's at least one life that I saved, one innocent person that didn't have to die needlessly. I don't want any more people to die for Level E's."

Zero let out a long sigh.

"I suppose you being able to _defend_ yourself wouldn't hurt." he complied.

Kyoko's face lit up instantly.

"Thank you, Zero! You're the best!" she said, flinging herself at him and wrapping her arms round him in a hug. He was a little surprised and it took a moment for him to return the gesture somewhat, if awkwardly. She broke away smiling, and ran off to the bathroom to put her brush and shampoo in there.

Zero sighed, left hand on his hip, right holding his head.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

**I know it's short, but please review!**


	9. Lessons

Lessons

A week had passed, and finally Kyoko was getting her first lesson from Zero. He'd made her wait until he was absolutely sure she was recovered from his feeding. The wait had driven Kyoko crazy, and Zero even crazier from being subjected to her nagging.

Today's session was taking place in Zero's living room, so they had moved all of the furniture to one side to make more room. Zero stood opposite of Kyoko, wearing dark pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. She donned a pair of shorts and a tank top. Her hair was tossed up in a quick bun so it would hit her in the face.

"Okay, first I want you to come at me and try to knock me down," instructed the lavender-eyed teenager.(I realized that his eyes were actually lavender, not gray, so that's the color they will be from now on. Sorry!) "This way I can get a feel for how well you can fight. I'll let you know when to stop."

Kyoko charged him and swung a punch to his gut. He easily dodged it, so she feinted to the right and punched at his shoulder with her left hand., but he eluded that attack as well.

_He's good, very good. Time to turn it up._

She dropped to the floor and swept her leg at his feet. As he jumped to evade it, Kyoko leaped up. Now that he was pressed against the wall, she aimed a kick at his chest.

_I've got you now, Zero. You've got nowhere to go this time-_

Before her foot made contact, Zero grabbed her ankle with his left hand.

"My turn," he grinned.

With his right hand, he wrapped his arm around her waist, and flipped her over onto her back. Dazed, she stared up at Zero's upside down face. A ray from the morning sun shot through the window, partially blinding her. She barely had enough time to squint and roll to the right to avoid Zero's foot. It came crashing down in the place where she had been lying dazed a split second before.

_He's fast._

Kyoko hopped to her feet and assumed a defensive position to fend him off. That was, however, easier said than done. Zero swung and kicked at her, trying to knock her down. She barely managed to avoid the attacks, and a few times she wasn't able to at all.

_Why is he so much faster than before? Earlier I might have been able to do hold him off better, but suddenly he got quicker! _Why is that?

Her breath was starting to come in gasps. Zero, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed as he threw more punches and kicks at her. She dodged his fist, but didn't have time to avoid his foot. It met with her stomach, and Kyoko crumpled to the floor, gasping for air. Zero turned her so she was on her back and crouched next to her. Leaning over her, he bent his head over her neck, fangs poised on her skin, ready to bite.

"I win," he jested.

Then he stood up and offered his hand to Kyoko, pulling her up.

"How did you speed up when you attacked me?" asked Kyoko. "You were just a little faster than me, and then you suddenly got quicker."

"When I had you come at me," Zero explained, "I was dodging at the level of a human hunter. But as soon as the tables were turned, I fought with the strength and agility as a vampire. It's quite a difference, isn't it?"

Kyoko made a trip to the kitchen. She returned, bearing two towering glasses of ice water. Handing one to Zero, she sat on the floor, already gulping down the precious liquid. He downed his as well and sat himself down across from Kyoko.

"So, now that you've seen me fight, how do you intend to made me better?" she asked.

"Well, the easiest way to kill vampires is to kill them with a weapon, preferably a gun. That way, you don't have to get close to them, risking your life further." He sighed. "To answer your question, I guess I'll have to take you to a shooting gallery to train your firearm skills. Before that, however, you'll have to beat me in fistfight. You're pretty good yourself."

Yeah, well, since I'm an only child, I had to pick fights with the boys in the neighborhood and at school who treated me like a girl. That got me in quite a bit of trouble," she added. "What about you, Zero. Do you have any siblings?"

His body immediately tensed up. He dropped his gaze, not meeting her eyes. Zero looked as if he wanted to answer, but didn't want to at the same time. He was pale, even for zero. Kyoko realized that he had very faint bags under his eyes.

_He hasn't been sleeping well since I got here, Him being the stupid gentleman that he is has been making me sleep in his bed while he took the couch._ Idiot.

"Maybe you should go take a nap Zero," she suggested. "You look a little tired."

"Yeah," mumbled the hunter, standing to leave.

"I'll wake you up for lunch," said Kyoko.

"'K," said Zero sleepily, stepping into his bedroom and closed the door.

Kyoko waited a few minutes until she thought Zero was asleep. Careful not to make a sound, she snuck over to the door and opened it a crack. Peering in, she saw that Zero was sleeping soundly, hardly making a sound. If it wasn't for the very slight rise and fall of his chest, Kyoko would have thought the hunter was dead. Smiling, she shut the door, leaving Zero to snooze in peace.

_He's so cute when he's asleep._

She giggled to herself as she made her way over to two of the three shopping bags she'd brought back a week earlier. Kyoko pulled out the bag's contents.

The "girl tings' consisted of several gallons of paint, brushes, rollers, and trays. A smile payed across her face as she remembered Zero's words when he had picked up two of the bags. "What do you have in here? _Bricks?"_

She popped open a can of paint labeled powder blue and headed to the bathroom. Kyoko gave the paint a quick stir and filled a tray with it.

_It's about time someone brightened this place up._

Dipping the roller in the paint, Kyoko held it up and smiled fiendishly.

_Let the fun begin._

**_

* * *

_**

**_Review!_**


	10. A Familiar Face

A Familiar Face

It had taken Kyoko two hours to paint the bathroom its new color. Pleased with her work and convinced she'd done enough damage for now, she had placed the paint back in the bags. Now she was working on lunch: curry. She knew Zero would be ticked about the bathroom, but Kyoko was actually excited about how he would react.

While she was visualizing how Zero would take the partial redecorating job she had done, the bedroom door opened and Zero stumbled out. Yawning, he made his way to the bathroom and closed the door. Kyoko burst into a fit of silent giggles.

_He's really tired. I thought that he would have noticed by now._

She heard the flush of the toilet and water running as he washed his hands.

_Wait for. Wait for it. 3...2...1-_

"What the HELL?!"

_Houston, we have liftoff._

Zero burst out of the bathroom, and however much harder that made her want to laugh, Kyoko put on a straight face.

"Yes?" she said and smiled innocently. "How was your nap?"

"What is _this?_" demanded Zero, holding up a green hand towel.

"That's a towel, zero," explained Kyoko as if she was talking to a little kid.

"I _know_ that, I mean what is it doing in my bathroom?" he fumed.

"Oh, come on. This place is so _bland_, Zero. It needs life or I'm gonna go nuts! It's like an asylum in here: all white, no color, no personality."

"You could've at least brought it up with me-"

"You would've shot it down immediately. So I took matters into my own hands." said Kyoko.

Zero sighed, "What are the other other rooms going to be painted?"

"Well," she started, "the kitchen will be peach, headline blues for the hallway, and green oasis in the living room."

"Where on _earth_ did you get those names?"

"Well, _I_ sure as heck didn't come up with them, they were the names on the samples," Kyoko explained, fishing said samples out of her pocket. She handed the cards to Zero who regarded them mournfully.

"Ohm, and by the way, I didn't decide on your room because I think you should pick the color. It is your room after all. But choose wisely, Zero. If you pick black or some other depressing color, I'll paint it pink."

Zero cringed and made a horrified face. They both burst out laughing. Glancing at the curry, Kyoko decided she had enough time to go get the mail from downstairs.

"Here," she said, handing Zero a wooden spoon and setting the timer for ten minutes, "stir this constantly until I get back. If the timer goes off, take the pot off the stove _immediately._ I'm gonna go get the mail."

Kyoko grabbed the key off of the counter and left. After checking for mail and finding the box empty, she went back upstairs.

When she turned the corner, she saw a man standing outside Zero's apartment. The dark-haired man's wavy hair flowed just past his shoulders. He wore a hat and a long overcoat, strangely out of season.

"Can I help you?" offered Kyoko.

The man turned to face her and she saw that his right eye had a patch over it.

_Creepy._

She put her hand on the doorknob and felt his hand close down on her arm.

_Perverted old man!_

She turned swiftly and kicked him, sending him against the wall. Kyoko beat him to the ground until she heard Zero's apartment door open.

Zero opened the door, after hearing several noises from the hallway. Before him he saw Kyoko beating a guy senseless. The guy was-

"You!"

**Haha! Who is this mysterious person? Review!**


	11. Behind Closed Doors

Behind Closed Doors

Kyoko stopped kicking the man before her, and turned to face Zero.

"You know this pervert?" she asked.

The man picked himself off the floor and brushed off the dust.

"Long time no see, stupid apprentice," smiled the stranger.

"Master! What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you of course. You never call, so I worry about you. You could die of pneumonia and no one would ever know," he explained.

"Zero, that's no way to treat your teacher," chided Kyoko.

"Me?! You're the one who was kicking him when I found you." Zero burst out laughing. "How did that happen anyway? You must be getting senile in your old age."

"I"m not that old. It was a misunderstanding. I'm Yagari Toga," introduced Zero's teacher. "And you are...?"

"Kyoko Hitoshi. I'm bunking with Zero for a while. My apartment caught fire, so he's helping me out," she lied.

She didn't know how much of the truth Zero wanted his teacher to know. Kyoko figured a small white lie couldn't hurt.

"I see," Yagari accepted.

Kyoko heard the faint beep of the timer go off.

"Do you want to stay for lunch?" she offered. "We're having curry."

"Thank you very much, but I must decline. I have a meeting in less than half an hour, so I can't stay."

"Oh, then I'll go take care of the curry. Zero," she added, "I'll call you when it's ready."

"Thanks."

Kyoko passed a still-stunned Zero and slipped through the cracked door.

"Ah! The curry!" she yelped, remembering that Zero had abandoned it. She ran to the kitchen, skidded to a halt in front of the stove, and violently twisted the gas knob. Kyoko quickly yanked the pot off the burner and placed it on a heat pad on the table. Letting it cool off a bit, she grabbed two bowls and set the small dining room table. When that was finished, she went to fetch Zero.

As she got closer to the door, Kyoko could hear Zero and Yagari discussing something. Normally, she would have just opened the door and told Zero lunch was ready, but her ears caught her name. This made her stop and listen to what was being said on the other side of the door.

"Does Kyoko know?" asked Yagari.

"About me being a vampire? Yes," Zero replied pointedly. "And she's perfectly fine with it."

"I can see that. But is she aware that you could turn into a Level E like those vampires you saved her from?"

Zero took a moment to respond.

"No, but maybe she stay with me anyway!"

"You seem tense, Zero," his teacher remarked.

"You mean tenser than usual? Yeah, well, I woke up from a nap to find that my bathroom is a different color. And Kyoko plans on repainting the whole apartment."

"I thought you didn't want it to change?" Yagari reminded him.

"I didn't, but she wouldn't give in, so I'm letting her do as she wishes."

"Really? Why would she redecorate your apartment if she's simply just 'bunking with you for a while.' Is there something else going on between you two?"

Zero was silent, and Kyoko thought this would be as good a time as any to join in.

"Uh, Zero?" she said, opening the door. "Lunch is ready."

"Coming," he said.

Zero gave a quick bow to Yagari and passed Kyoko. She turned to face his teacher

"Thank you for checking up on him. I'm glad that someone worries about him."

"Just making sure he doesn't get into too much trouble," smiled the older hunter, turning to leave.

"Uh, Yagari?"

"Yeah?"

"Does Zero have any...um...siblings? I asked him earlier and he just clammed up."

"He had a twin brother, but that's all I'll tell you," said Yagari. "He should be the one to tell you. I'm sure he'll open up and tell you."

"Why do you say that?"

"The Zero I used to know wouldn't give in so easily over something like repainting his apartment. You seem to be good for him. Perhaps you're the one who's changing him."

"Thanks for everything," she said, bowing to him.

Yagari strode down the hall. When he reached the corner, he turned and paused.

"Oh, yeah. Be sure that you don't make eavesdropping a habit," and disappeared behind the corner before she could say a word.

Kyoko blushed and stepped inside Zero's apartment, closing the door behind her.

* * *

**Come on, review, review, review!**


	12. Not You

Not You

She was walking along a city street, the glowing orbs that were street lamps lighting her path. Shooting a glance behind her, Kyoko saw someone following her, eyes glowing in the darkness. Panicking, she broke into a run. From out of nowhere, someone landed in front of her, red eyes glowing.

_A Level E!_

Kyoko tried to turn around, but the other vampire was behind her. Both vampires grabbed for her. Seeing that they had competition, the two Level E's attacked each other. While they fought over her, a third vampire snaked his arm around Kyoko's waist. She tried to fight him off, but couldn't stop herself from being pulled into a dark, foreboding alley.

She managed to squirm around in his grip, and stood facing her captor. Without much light, Kyoko couldn't see his face very well, except for his glowing eyes. However, she was able to make out a strange symbol tattooed on the left side of his neck.

"Zero?!"

He covered her mouth with his hand, muffling her voice so the Level E's wouldn't hear. Zero picked her up bridal style and suddenly they were in his apartment. Kyoko punched his head and he dropped her. She scrabbled to her feet and ran to the bathroom, throwing herself against the door. Zero made a loud bang as he slammed into it. Kyoko locked the door and backed away from it, breathing hard. She heard Zero snarling on the other side of the door and closed her eyes.

_No, not him, not Zero._

BANG!

Her eyes snapped open and she saw Zero standing in the door way. His blood-colored eyes stood out against the darkness, a menacing snarl plastered on his face, fangs bared. Before she could blink, Kyoko was shoved roughly against the wall, pinned, unable to move.

_He's more animal than anything else. He doesn't even speak._

Zero's tongue drew across her neck and she stiffened, panicking.

"No-" she cried as he plunged his fangs into her neck.

She whimpered in pain. It hurt so much more than when she'd offered him her blood before. Back then he had tried to be gentle, but not now. Now the Level E tore through her neck and blood streamed into his mouth. There was so _much_ of it. It ran down her neck, spilling from Zero's lips. It flowed faster than he could drink. The burning pain didn't subside like before because he kept ripping more of her neck to get more blood.

_This can't be happening. It can't, it _can't_. Zero, I-_

Kyoko saw spots and could no longer hold herself up. She collapsed into Zero's arms.

"No, Zero stop. Not you...not you... stop," she cried weakly, going limp in his arms.

* * *

**Oh no! Review! Please?**


	13. A Restless Night

A Restless Night

Kyoko's eyes snapped open. Her breathes came in gasps, her nightmare's images burned into her mind. A cold sweat had broken out over her body, and she tried to go back to sleep.

The rest of the day had gone without incidence, which was a nice change. Although was dying to ask about Zero's brother, she had withheld asking Zero about it. She had decided to wait for the right moment. But she also didn't want Zero to tense up like before. Maybe she could get him to talk in his sleep...

Speaking of sleep, now she was lying in his bed trying to fall back asleep. She turned on her side, then her other to find a comfortable position. Kyoko crawled over the pillows and counted sheep, but nothing worked. She just lay there in Zero's bed, watching the ceiling fan make its slow rotation. Kyoko glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table.

12:13

The glowing red numbers reminded her of Zero's eyes from her dream. A violent wave of goosebumps ran over her body.

_What's wrong with you, Kyoko?! Maybe a shower will help._

Kyoko crawled out of bed, untangling herself from the sheets. She cracked the door open and tiptoed to the bathroom. As she did so, she passed Zero, fast asleep on the couch. Zero's arm was draped over the couch, his mouth slightly open, and Kyoko could see the tips of his fangs. A chill ran down her spine as she remembered her nightmare.

She closed the bathroom door and stripped herself of her tank top and shorts. Stepping into the shower, Kyoko adjusted the water to the right temperature. It hit her face and rolled down her sweat-drenched body. She leaned her head forward to let it soak her ebony hair.

Yagari's words penetrated her mind.

_"Is she aware that you could also turn into a Level E?"_

_Come on, Kyoko. Pull yourself together._

It actually hadn't occurred to her that Zero could turn into a Level E. Now that she thought about it, it was very obvious. Level E's were ex-humans who eventually went insane. Zero was former human, so it would only be natural that he might transform into one. The idea just didn't seem very likely to Kyoko. Zero was different from those other vampires who had tried to kill her. He was kind and wouldn't do anything to hurt her intentionally. But that was because she knew him, unlike those Level E's. She didn't know them personally, just as murdering creatures who wanted her blood. They were probably just like Zero, normal, nice, before they went insane.

Kyoko turned off the water and wrapped herself in a white towel. She picked up her comb from the counter and ran it through her hair. Squeezing the excess water from her hair, Kyoko let it fall back down. She looked up in the mirror and saw Zero's face.

She pun around, slipped on the wet floor and fell down. Looking up, Kyoko saw that he was standing in the doorway, almost exactly like her dream. She thought she saw a flash of red in his eyes, but figured she imagined it because of the nightmare.

"Hey Zero," she said nervously, pushing back all traces of her dream.

"What are you doing this late at night?" Zero asked.

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a shower," Kyoko explained, her eyes not meeting his.

"Oh."

"Is something wrong, Zero?"

He paused.

"It's just that there's something I should tell you," he said hesitantly, walking towards her.

She tensed up as he crouched down to her level. Zero stopped, his face an inch away from her own. Cool lavender eyes bored into Kyoko's.

"I..." Zero started, leaning in.

He dropped his head to her neck.

"...need blood," he finished, biting down.

Kyoko's nightmare came rushing back to her in an instant at full force. She remembered Zero ripping into her neck, drinking her blood, draining her of life until he'd take too much and she'd died.

"NO!" she cried, pushing him away.

She winced as his fangs cut more of her neck as they were harshly pulled out. Kyoko instantly regretted pushing him away, the look on his face was killing her. Hurt was etched deeply into his face, but she didn't think it was because she wouldn't let him drink her blood. It was because she had pushed him away so forcefully, and the fear on her face made him want to die.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, standing to leave. "I shouldn't have just done that. Just because you offered your blood to me before doesn't give me the right to drink it whenever I want to. I'm sorry."

Zero swiftly left the bathroom, and Kyoko heard the apartment door open and shut again. She ran out to it. Forcefully wrenching it open, she called out to Zero, but he was already gone. Kyoko trudged back to the bathroom with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She wiped off the blood and got dressed. Looking up at her reflection, Kyoko saw that tears had started to form in her eyes. As she walked to the living room, tears began to fall, hitting the floor and leaving a trail behind her. Flopping down on the couch, she cried so hard that her face was red and puffy.

"It's all my fault," she said to herself, over and over. "It's my fault that he left. If I hadn't had that stupid dream, then I wouldn't have been afraid and pushed him away and he wouldn't...it's all my fault."

She waited all night for Zero to return, but he never did.

* * *

**I'm so sorry that I posted so late today! I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night. I didn't get up until eleven this morning and I still had to finish this chapter and type it up. Hope you enjoyed it! Review!**


	14. Searching

Searching

Four hours and five cups of coffee later, Kyoko was still waiting on the couch for Zero to come back. It was five in the morning and she was very worried.

_That _idiot._ I am so going to kill him when he gets back. If he comes back._

She stood wearily and trudged to the kitchen. Kyoko poured herself another cup of coffee. Thinking that she heard the door open, Kyoko rushed to it, nearly spilling her coffee. However, it remained as closed as it had been all night. Feeling dejected, she trudged back to the couch with her cup of coffee. Plopping back down, Kyoko stared at the door, willing it to open and have the familiar figure of Zero fill its doorway.

Zero was slumped against a brick wall in an alleyway. Invisible from the street, he just stared out at all the passersby. The _Bloody Rose_ lay in his hand by his side, gleaming as the first rays of sunlight hit it. He dug his nails into his leg, wincing as the slight scent of blood wafted into his nose. The urge was nudging at the corner of his mind.

He couldn't go back, not after what had happened. Kyoko had pushed him away, fear in her eyes. It was that face that had made him run away. _She was afraid of him._ He was just like those pathetic Level E's. And just like those impulse-controlling murderers, he must be stopped.

The _Bloody Rose_ glinted as Zero raised it to eye level and pointed it at his forehead. Lacing his fingers around the trigger, Zero closed his eyes.

And pulled the trigger.

Kyoko jolted awake. She must have dozed off without meaning too. With hardly any sleep, it wasn't surprising that the human had fallen asleep. She swung her legs around to get up and stepped in coffee.

_Dang it. Just what I need._

She got a rag from the kitchen and wiped up the spill and brought it back to ring it out. As she was rinsing out the rag, Kyoko thought she heard the door open, but dismissed it as her imagination. When she returned to the living room, Kyoko stopped and stared.

Zero stood in the middle of the living room. She walked toward him and punched him. When he tottered back, Kyoko saw that blood was seeping from his right shoulder. He was trying to stop the bleeding with his hand, but that wasn't working out so well.

"Are you all right, Zero?" she asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered.

"Good," she said, punching him again.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" Kyoko shouted at him, kicking and punching him across the room despite his injury. "You just disappear without a word and when you finally come back you're bleeding?!"

Zero just let her hit and yell at him.

"Well? Say something!"

"I left for your sake," he mumbled after a moment. "You pushed me away and the look on your face told me that you were scared so I left you alone."

_Oh. That's right._

"I didn't push you away because I didn't want you to drink my blood, Zero. I...overheard you and Yagari talking about you being able to turn into a...Level E," she admitted. "I had a nightmare that you did go crazy and you killed me. So when you bit my neck, it reminded me of my dream, and my reflexes pushed you away."

"So you're not afraid of me?" Zero asked.

"No."

"Even though I could turn into a Level E?"

"I'm not afraid."

His face visibly looked relieved. Then the smell of his own blood seemed to take control, as he leaned forward, hand on Kyoko's neck. Zero paused, waiting for approval. She shifted her hair to the side, creating a clear patch of her neck and silently giving Zero the go ahead. He bit down gently and drank slowly, not as needy as the first time, nor as much.

When he was done, Zero licked off the last drops of Kyoko's blood from her neck. She grabbed his arm and led him to the bathroom to clean his wound. He gingerly removed his shirt and let it fall to the floor. Kyoko saw that the would was half-healed.

"Wow, you sure heal fast," she pointed out.

"Blood helps," Zero explained.

Kyoko snatched up a washcloth from the counter and began wiping off blood. She figured this would be as good a time as any to ask Zero about his brother.

"I asked Yagari about your family and he said you had a twin brother."

Zero's hand gripped the counter top, and Kyoko knew it wasn't just because of his injury.

"He did, did he?"

"Yeah."

"I had a brother. When a hunter family gives birth to twins, they are born with the hunter's curse. In their mother's womb, one will steal nourishment from the other, and this become stronger. Ichiru was born weak and was always getting sick. One day two years ago, he got injured by a vampire. Because he was weak, he knew that he wouldn't make it. So he told me to devour him so we could become one like when were still one egg in our mother's body."

Zero clenched his teeth.

"And like a vampire I did. I killed my own brother who I stole life from before we were even born."

Kyoko wrapped up his shoulder with a bandage and stepped back, admiring her handy work.

"I'm sure that he still loves you, just like I-"

She stopped herself, horrified at what she had almost said.

"I'll let you change," she said and ran out of the room to the bedroom. She closed the door behind her and slid down it.

_Like I...what?_

_

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	15. Graduation

Graduation

_Like I...what?_

Several weeks had passed since that incident. Both Kyoko and Zero had dismissed it as nothing, and carried on as usual. Zero had continued Kyoko's training, teaching her almost daily. She was improving, and could almost tie with her mentor in a fight. She was getting stronger, and both were noticing her improvements.

In that time, Zero had also started to change. He was drinking Kyoko's blood more often, about once a week, but not as much. Also, Zero said that he had made up his mind about a color for his bedroom.

Zero attacked Kyoko, kicking at her stomach. She dodged it and swung a punch at him. He avoided it and dropped to the floor. Zero swept his leg at her feet. Kyoko jumped to evade it and kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

She rested her foot on his chest, pinning him down.

"I win."

Kyoko removed her foot and held out her hand. Zero took it and she pulled him to his feet.

"You've gotten much better," he praised, not attempting to hide a smile. "You pass."

"Woo hoo! Now can we go get that paint? Your room is the only one left."

As they walked down the street to the store, Zero made a stop at a shooting gallery. He gestured for Kyoko to follow him, and she did. Zero was speaking to a man at the counter. Kyoko saw him hold up two fingers. The man nodded, and held out two hand guns. Zero only took one, pointing to the one at his side.

"Come on," he said, leading her to the gallery.

The room was plain, like Zero's apartment before she had come along. It was split in two by a wall with large holes cut out to aim. Large sheets hung from the ceiling in the enclosed part. No one else was in the room besides Kyoko and Zero.

Zero loaded the gun from the man and handed it to Kyoko, taking out his own.

"Here," he said. "Now that you're pretty good at hand to hand combat, I want to see how good your shooting skills are."

She took the gun and aimed it at the sheet of shooting paper.

"When killing a Level E, it's always best to try to avoid an actual fight. You want to shoot and kill it with one shot and as soon as possible. A head shot is always your best bet. An instant death."

Zero raised his gun and a shot it. A small hole appeared on the outline of a body, dead center in the head.

"Try to get it as close as you can to where I did."

She adjusted her aim and pulled the trigger.

**BLAM.**

For a second, they both thought that she had missed the target completely. They entered a door to the other room to get a look. When Zero lifted the paper, he saw one hole in the wall. He dug it out with his nail. To his surprise, a second bullet fell out after it.

_Kyoko had hit Zero's bullet._

He turned to face her.

"You're good."

"I used to go hunting a lot with my cousins when I was younger," she explained.

"Well, seeing as I don't have to worry about your ability with guns, we can go get that paint now."

They stood in front of the wall with a bazillion and one paint samples.

"What color do you want?" Zero asked.

"It's your room, Zero. You'll be the one living in it, you pick the color. Just remember: not black."

"I can't just stick you out on the couch," he argued.

"And why not?" Kyoko countered.

"I think we should both sleep in my room. I know where we can get a second bed. You can sleep on one side and I'll take the other. We can hang a curtain or something from the ceiling to divide the room."

"Oh, fine, but how are we going to decide on a color? We'll never agree," she pointed out.

"How about you pick a color for your side and I'll pick one for my side."

"Ok."

Kyoko picked out a nice orange, not too dark or light, just right. Zero eventually chose a turquoise-ish blue.

On the way back to Zero's apartment, he stopped at a shop and picked up a package. Kyoko waited outside at his request. When they arrived at the apartment, he gave it to her. It was a box wrapped in green paper, her favorite. Kyoko opened the box and there lay a silver hand gun, very similar to Zero's. The engraving read _Treacherous Ivy._

"I figured now that you passed training, you should have a gun of your own to "defend' yourself with."

"Oh, thank you Zero! It's beautiful!" she said, throwing her arms around him in a hug. After a moment she blushed and let go.

"Should we, er, start painting then?"

"Why not."

They brought their cans, rollers, and brushes to the bedroom and began painting. Starting at the same spot on the wall, the two of them worked in opposite directions until they met up on the other side of the room. When Zero turned to dip his brush back in the can, Kyoko held her brush close to his cheek. Zero turned around and a streak of orange smeared around his face. She burst out laughing and he swiped his brush across her face, leaving a stripe of turquoise. The paint war continued until the two of them were pretty full of the other's color. Laughing, they finished the last touches and cleaned up the supplies and took turns using the shower to wash off the paint.

A few hours later, the second bed arrived and Kyoko and Zero carried it to the bedroom. After they finished redecorating it with the furniture, Zero strung an opaque white curtain from the ceiling. At night, it separated the room into two spaces. During the day, it could be pulled to the back of the room to join the two parts together.

That night, as both of them were getting ready to go to sleep, curtain almost completely closed, Kyoko passed through it to her b

ed.

"You dropped you hair tie," Zero said when she had only gone a step or two.

They both stooped to pick it up, faces mere inches apart. Kyoko blushed hard and snatched up the tie.

"Good night," she said, standing up abruptly and fully closed the curtain forcefully.

"'Night," Zero said.

Kyoko ran to her new bed and crawled in.

_Why did I blush like that? WHY?! I don't get it._

She remembered how happy she had been when he smiled today. He actually smiled. Zero Kiryu smiling. At her. He seemed to be doing that more often. Smiling. It filled her with an unparalleled joy, like it was always her birthday.

_Oh, man._

Realization hit Kyoko like a freight train. A single tear slid down her cheek.

_I'm falling in love with him._

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	16. Assignment

Assignment

Kyoko had difficulty sleeping that night. She kept worrying about what she was going to do, mostly.

_How did this happen?! We're just friends! He's a vampire and I'm a human. There's no way that this could ever work out...right?_

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice when Zero tapped her shoulder. Kyoko nearly jumped out of bed.

"WHAT?!"

"Look who got up on the wrong side of the bed," Zero chuckled.

"Well, you just surprised me is all," she explained.

"I called your name several times, but you didn't answer. Anyway, it's time to get up."

"Coming."

He left and she got dressed, somehow. Kyoko tried putting her t-shirt on instead of pants. When she was finally dressed and all of her clothes were in the right places, the fidgety human ventured into the kitchen.

Zero already had a pot of coffee done, so she poured herself a cup and sat done at the table with him.

"So how did you sleep last night?" Zero asked.

"Huh?!"

"You know, with the fresh paint and all. Are you okay? You're really jumpy today."

"Oh, I just didn't get much sleep last night."

"Something on your mind?"

"Uh," she started.

Just then, Zero's pager went off.

_Oh, thank you, Zero's pager! ...Wait...Zero has a pager?!_

"Come on," Zero said. "We gotta go. Grab your gun."

"Why? Where are we going?" Kyoko asked.

He held up his pager.

"An assignment."

"A Level E?"

He nodded.

Within a minute, the two of them were out the door and halfway down the street.

"Here," Zero said, handing Kyoko the pager. "This is what our target looks like. Memorize the face and keep a look out."

Kyoko studied the screen. The Level E's long blond hair flowed past its shoulders, the eyes seemed to stare right through her.

"Wait a minute, the Level E is a woman?!"

"Yeah, the insanity of blood lust spares no one, regardless of sex or race." Zero stated.

She was a little shocked. All the Level E's Kyoko had seen so far were all guys, so it seemed weird for their target to be a woman.

"Keep your guard up at all times, and don't hesitate to shoot. If I tel you to shoot, shoot. If I tell you to run, run. Not to do so could cost you your life. Do you remember my teacher's eye patch?"

Kyoko nodded.

"He lost his eye when I wouldn't run from after he ordered me to. The Level E was my elementary school nurse, a nice lady. But when she finally went nuts, I couldn't believe that she would hurt anyone. Because of my ignorance, my master got hurt protecting me."

Zero shot her a glance.

"Don't repeat my mistake, Kyoko." he warned.

Her heart fluttered when he said her name, and she mentally chastised herself.

_Get a grip, girl. Stop thinking like a high school girl from shojo manga._

"So, how are we going to find this Level E?" Kyoko inquired.

"First we'll patrol around. If we don't see anything strange or suspicious, we'll go from there. Pay attention to details."

They strode along the streets, trying to find their target quickly. Both pairs of eyes swept over their surroundings: people, places, things. But neither Kyoko's amateur nor Zero's trained eyes spotted anything out of the ordinary. Then, at the end of a block, Kyoko thought she saw a hint of blond hair.

"Zero, you go on ahead, I'm just gonna check something," she told him.

"Did you see something?"

"It's probably nothing, but I just want to make sure."

"Alright, see you at the next block. Be careful."

"As always," she smiled.

Kyoko turned and went to check out the place where she thought she'd seen the blond hair. Instead, she found an empty space, perhaps where a small building had once stood. A cry caught her attention, and she felt a slight tug on her pants. Looking down, Kyoko saw a little blond child, about five years old.

_She must have been the one I saw._

"Mommy," the girl cried, tears brimming her eyes, "Mommy."

"I'm not your mother little one. Are you lost?"

The little girl nodded.

"Alright, where did you last see her?" Kyoko asked.

"Over there."

The child led her over to the other side of the empty lot and behind several buildings.

_Her mother must live in one of these buildings._

Pointing to a corner, the girl said, "She's behind that corner."

Kyoko stepped over to the place where she was pointing at. There was nothing there.

She turned around, saying, "She's not here-"

The little girl smiled evilly and suddenly grew a couple feet. Big eyes narrowed and became slits filled with red. She recognized the woman before her as the Level E from Zero's pager.

_Crap._

Kyoko drew her gun and tried to aim, but the vampire had already lunged at her. The gun went off, bullet going astray, but still grazing the woman. Kyoko dove to the side to avoid a collision with the vampire. Upon impact, the _Treacherous Ivy_ bounced out of her hand and slid several feet away. Seething with pain, the Level E swiveled to face Kyoko, eyes crimson with rage and blood lust.

She ram at Kyoko, and the human kicked her foot up in defense, sending the vampire flying over her head. Kyoko took the chance to crawl over to her gun. When she was almost there, a hand clamped down on her ankle. Whipping her head around, Kyoko saw that the woman had caught her and was pulling her prey toward her.

Kyoko reached for her weapon, fingers just a few inches shy of it, trying to kick free. Meanwhile, her captor held on with a vice-like grip and pulled her farther and farther away from her lifeline. With one last kick, Kyoko kicked free, giving her enough time to grab her gun. The Level E leaped at her throat as Kyoko pulled the trigger.

**BLAM!**

Zero arrived just in time to see the Level E over Kyoko turn to dust.

"Kyoko!" he yelled, racing toward her.

"I'm f-fine," she stammered.

He helped her stand and then, seeing that she wasn't hurt, whacked her with the butt of the _Bloody Rose_.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"For making me worry. Did you really think that you could up against a Level E by yourself?!"

"Well, she was just a little girl when I saw her. Then she led me here and transformed," Kyoko explained.

"You idiot," he said, a smile creeping onto his face.

"Takes one to know one."

"Touche. How about some lunch, little troublemaker."

"Are you buying?" Kyoko asked.

"I guess."

"Alright!"

The two left for a restaurant, leaving the remains of the Level E to disperse in the breeze.

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	17. Fireworks and Waterworks

Fireworks and Waterworks

"Hey, Zero! Wanna go watch the fireworks tonight?" offered Kyoko, shoving a colorful flyer in his face.

"Fireworks?" he said, reading the flyer.

"Yeah, you know. The big explosive things that go boom in the sky and explode into a billion pretty colors."

"I'm not two, I just, oh never mind. I can never win with you, Kyoko." Zero smiled.

Her heart fluttered again when he said her name.

"So," she said, regaining her composure, "do you wanna go or not?"

"I don't know," he said hesitantly.

"Oh, come on, Zero! Have a sense of adventure!"

"Oh, yes, fireworks are _very_ adventurous. _Nothing_ compared to going after bloodthirsty, murdering Level E's." he commented sarcastically.

Kyoko resorted to giving him puppy eyes. She knew he couldn't resist them, and it showed on his face.

"Oh, _fine_," Zero made a big show of saying it.

"Yippy!"

Kyoko jumped up and down with excitement. She hugged Zero.

"Thank you, Zero! I _love_ fireworks!"

She suddenly gasped.

"Ah! What am I gonna wear?!" she exclaimed. "I have just over two hours. I have to get ready!"

Kyoko ran off to their bedroom to find something to wear. Zero followed her. She was digging furiously through her clothes, tossing them aside.

"Why are you making such a big deal out of it? It's not like it's a date or anything."

She slowed her rummaging.

"Yeah," she mumbled. "It's just an outing."

Zero noticed he was treading on thin ice. He tried to repair the damage.

"But I'll let you get on with your getting-readiness. Try not to have to much fun."

He departed and for the next two hours, Kyoko found herself showering, getting dressed after finally finding an outfit, and fixing her hair. She'd spent the last half hour trying to get half of it up in a ponytail, letting the rest fall down. She was beginning to get frustrated. Kyoko just wanted to look nice for Zero on their date-that-wasn't-really-a-date-but-kind-of-is. You know how that is.

"ARGH! THIS IS RADICAL!"

"Kyoko," Zero said, knocking on the closed bathroom door, "The fireworks are going to start in five minutes."

She admitted defeat and ran her brush through her hair once last time before throwing it up in her ever-so-common ponytail.

"I'm ready," she said, stepping out of the bathroom.

She was clad in her favorite pair of jeans and t-shirt with a sweatshirt.

"Let's go then," she said.

The pair hurried down the street to the fireworks site, Kyoko excitedly, Zero hesitantly. Since they were the last ones to arrive, the duo had to sit the farther back than anyone else. Which was fine in Kyoko's opinion, now they wouldn't be crowded by other people. As they sat partially under a tree, Kyoko was glad she had brought her sweatshirt. Even though summer was in full swing, even July nights could be a little chilly.

No sooner had they sat down when the first pyrotechnic went off.

**BOOM!**

It burst into green, spinning off into the sky. They saw another flash as a second explosive shot up.

**BOOM!**

This one exploded in a shower of red, raining down to the ground.

"Aren't they beautiful?" asked Kyoko.

"Yeah. Really pretty," Zero agreed, his voice a bit strained.

Kyoko didn't pay much attention to it because several more flares went up into the sky.

**BOOM!**

A shower of blue.

**BOOM BOOM!**

Purple and red cartwheels spiraled through the air.

**BOOM!**

An explosion of green filled the sky, and then again as the pieces burst again.

**BOOM BOOM! BOOM!**

Three red fireworks shot up, filling the night sky with crimson light. Zero tensed up again, clenching his hand into a fist. Kyoko glanced down and saw his hand, awfully close to her own. She fought uncertainty and lightly grabbed it. When Zero shot her a weird look, she brushed at his hand.

"A bug," she explained.

He nodded and continued watching the fireworks. Kyoko blushed profusely, but luckily for her, the red light that the fireworks emitted covered up her embarrassment.

**BOOM!**

Another flare of red went up and Zero leaned over to Kyoko. She pretended not to notice, but nearly jumped when she felt his tongue slide across her neck.

"It's too much. The red light. Need...blood."

Kyoko leaned against the tree, giving him the go ahead. He held her shoulder firmly in place so she wouldn't move and cause herself more pain. His hand pushed aside her sweatshirt. Zero's lips found a spot on her neck and he bit just as another flare shot toward the moon.

**BOOM!**

He sucked in her blood as the sky exploded. Fortunately, they were back far enough from everyone so they wouldn't see or hear.

_He's drinking a little more than usual. The red light must really be affecting him. For a second I thought he was going to-_

Two tears slid silently down Kyoko's cheek. Zero withdrew and she wiped them away before he could see. He was getting neater at drinking blood. Only a drop of her blood lingered on his lip, which vanished from sight in an instant.

**BOOM!**

They turned and watched the finale unfold before them. The sky was lit up with so many colors at once, it was as light as day for a second, despite the fact it was around eleven. With one last loud pop, the final firework lit up, a blue. Zero tugged at Kyoko's arm.

"Come on, let's go before we get trampled."

The two walked back towards their apartment. Once, their hands brushed momentarily, but both retraced their offending appendages to their pockets. When they got inside the apartment, they made a beeline for the bedroom. Kyoko crossed over to the right side of the curtain, Zero to the left and drew the curtain across. She changed into her pajamas and made a quick trip to the bathroom to brush her teeth. The ebony-haired human checked for an excess blood, but their was none.

_He's gotten really good at cleaning up after himself._

She returned to the bedroom. Zero had thrown on a pair of pajama pants and was currently pulling on a white tank top. Kyoko was able to get a good glimpse of his lean-muscled chest before it was covered up.

"Good night, Zero," she said, acting as if she hadn't seen anything.

"Good night, Kyoko."

Kyoko disappeared behind the curtain as a wave of goosebumps erupted on her skin at the mention of her name. She laid down in bed, remembering his finely sculptured upper body. He had muscle, not too much, but just enough to make himself quite the sexy blood-drinking creature of the night. The memory of him leaning toward brought her back down to earth.

_I can't believe I thought he was going to do that. He doesn't even feel that way about me. And I'm a human, he's a vampire._

Another tear trickled down her face.

_But does that have to matter? Really?What am I thinking?! He doesn't feel that way about me?! ...he doesn't._

More tears fell as she mourned her stupidity of falling for a vampire.

On the other side of the curtain, Zero lay on his bed, remembering how he had leaned toward Kyoko. He had intended to kiss her. But he was afraid of how she would react and was going to just go for her cheek or forehead instead when that stupid red flare had gone off. It awakened the hungry vampire within, forcing him to go for her neck instead.

_Stupid blood lust._

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	18. Indecision

Indecision

Kyoko had difficulty sleeping that night as well. All night, her thoughts and feelings were bombarded by fear and doubt. She wanted to tell Zero how she felt about him. She wasn't even sure if what she felt for him was love yet, but it was getting there. But her doubts about the two of them being together shadowed her feelings. Could they really be a couple if he was a vampire and she was a human?

Then the Zero factor made her even more confused. What if he didn't feel that way about her? Would telling him she had feelings for him ruin their relationship if he didn't feel the same way? And even if she could muster up the courage to tell him, the fear of being rejected was eating at her. Kyoko knew that she couldn't possibly bear the thought of rejection from Zero.

Love was something completely foreign to Kyoko. She had never had feelings for a guy before. Yeah, she'd think that a boy was cute. Sometimes she would have a little schoolgirl crush, but that wouldn't last long. This was the first time Kyoko had ever been this serious about a guy.

These stupid feelings were swirling around her mind like a tornado. Her thoughts were so scrambled and confused that she wanted to scream with frustration.

Zero's voice pulled Kyoko from inside of her ravaged mind.

"Hey, it's time to get up sleepyhead. Even though you passed training, you still have to spar with me everyday if you hope to keep up your skills."

"Give me a sec," was her answer.

Zero left and Kyoko pulled herself out of bed, rummaging around for something to wear. She eventually picked a pair of jean capris and a t-shirt. Kyoko drew the curtain across the room and tied it back.

_I've got to tell him._

She entered the kitchen to find that Zero had already made breakfast. Two identical plates of eggs, toast, and hash browns rested on the table. Zero was pouring two cups of coffee when she came in.

"Ah, sleeping beauty's finally awake," he greeted. "Sit down, I'm just about done here."

Kyoko did as he said. He returned to the table moments later, setting down a cup of coffee in front of her. He then sat down and immediately began eating. Kyoko didn't really eat, she just pushed her food around like a child would with broccoli.

"What's up?"

_I can't tell him._

"Nothing, I'm just not very hungry."

"Well, then shall we move on to practice?"

She just nodded, leaving her plate as Zero stood and walked out of the kitchen.

She followed him to the living room to find that Zero had pushed most of the furniture aside, leaving a large space for their "practice". As soon as she was a few feet away from the door, Zero attacked. He aimed a punch at her head, barely missing as she dodged it slowly.

Her mind was still elsewhere, making her moments sluggish and choppy. What few attacks she threw at Zero missed by a mile.

_I've got to tell him._

He gave a good kick at her. His foot caught her in the chest, throwing Kyoko backward. She landed on her back.

_I can't tell him._

Zero stood over her, confusion written all over his face. He pulled her to her feet.

"What's going on with you?" he asked, worried. "Your fighting sucks. Is something bugging you?"

_I've got to tell him._

"Well, the thing is I-" Kyoko stopped herself before continuing. "I...haven't been getting much sleep lately, so I'm really tired."

Anger that was directed at herself caused Kyoko to clench her hands into fists.

_I...can't tell him._

"Oh. Well, why didn't you say so before. I would've let you sleep in if I'd known that. Then get back to sleep, you, and I'll put this room back together."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'll come by later to wake you up," Zero assured her.

"Uh, thanks," she said, turning away.

Just as she was about to cross the threshold into the bedroom, Kyoko stopped.

"Is something the matter, Kyoko?"

She took a deep breath and swiveled around to face Zero.

She had made up her mind.

Her eyes determined eyes locked with Zero's confused ones. Kyoko's heart was racing. It beat so loudly that Zero must have been able to hear it, though he didn't show it.

"Zero," she started," I...l-...l-..."

_No, don't back out now, just say it!_

"I like being able to help you with hunting down Level E's. Please allow me to help you from now on."

With that, she turned around and rushed into her half of the bedroom, tears brimming in her eyes. She roughly yanked the curtain across and fell onto her bed. Soon, her pillow was wet from the tears.

_Why?! Why can't I say those three little words to him?! Three words! Why?!_

Distraught and ashamed of herself, Kyoko silently cried herself to sleep.

A while after she had fallen asleep, the door cracked open and Zero stepped quietly into the room. Lifting the curtain with one hand, he passed the invisible line over to the human's side. He could see that her eyes were red from crying. Light as a feather, he brushed a single tear from her cheek. He knew that the reason she had been crying was because of what she had said. Or rather, what she hadn't.

Zero knelt by her side, talking quietly to himself.

"What is it that you really wanted to say? What is it that you don't want to tell me?"

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	19. While She Sleeps

While She Sleeps

Zero left the sleeping human and proceeded to put the living room back together. Which was easier said than done because he also had to do it quietly. The ex-human slowly slid the couch across the floor. Once it was in place, he picked up the coffee table and set it down. He continued rearranging the furniture until the task was finally done.

Taking a look at his work, Zero noticed how different his living room was from a few months before. The drab couch now had a slip cover over it. The once-white couch was now an olive green with random navy blue leaves all over. There was also a new armchair, blue, which had become Zero's new favorite spot to sit.

He realized that all of these changes were Kyoko's doing. Even though he liked how his place looked, Zero could hardly tell that to her. Ever since that human had come here, everything had started to change. His apartment was redecorated. He now had someone that he felt responsible for taking care of. And Zero wasn't lonely anymore. His occasional thoughts of suicide had vanished. For a while he had wanted to just take the _Bloody Rose_ and end it all after he'd bitten Kyoko. But her words had vanquished the idea, and since then, no more suicidal thoughts.

For the first time in many years, Zero was happy.

But there was something Kyoko had changed that Zero really wasn't expecting. He never saw it coming. It was almost like one day he woke up and bam, he was hit with the truth, the terrible, perfect, painful truth.

He was in love with her.

He wasn't quite sure when exactly he had started developing feelings for the human, but one day, it just slapped him across the face, leaving him breathless. From then on, he'd hid the fact from Kyoko, silently vowing never to speak to her about it. He couldn't bring it upon himself to burden her with that.

But then the night before during the fireworks, something had come over him. Zero had leaned in to kiss her. Then, the red flash of light had awakened the vampire in him. It was both a curse and a blessing that night.

But now Kyoko was acting very strange. Zero had no idea what could possibly make her act the way she was.

_Maybe it's because she's afraid or doesn't want to hurt my feelings._

Kyoko had been sleeping for the better part of an hour, so Zero opened the door to wake her up.

"Kyoko, it's time to get up."

She just lay there, not answering.

"Hey," the vampire said, stepping into the room. "If you don't get up, your internal clock is going to get all messed up."

Silence.

Sighing, Zero crossed the room to where the fragile human dozed. He moved a strand of her beautiful ebony hair that had fallen across her face. She turned in her sleep, talking to herself.

"Zero," she mumbled.

"What?" he asked, thinking she had finally woken up.

"Mm...Zero, I...ve you."

_Ve? What the heck is ve?_

She glomped onto his hand, pulling him down. Zero's face halted a few inches from Kyoko's. His breath quickened, and not because he could hear her the pronounced sound of her blood pulsing. He leaned in, lips just a hair's breadth away from Kyoko's.

Then he wrenched his hand out of her grasp and backed away, shocked at his own actions. Practically sprinting, Zero raced to the bathroom and locked the door. His heart pounded in his head, like a metronome. Glancing at his reflection, he saw how red his face was from blushing.

_Get a hold of yourself! What are you, an animal?! Even if you can't control your blood lust, can you at least try not to force yourself on her?! She could never feel that way about you too._

Zero shook his head in disbelief at what he'd almost done.

_But what was she mumbling in her sleep? 'I...ve you.' Ve? What does that mean? Dove? Glove? Lo-_

He stopped.

_No it can't be that. There's no way she feels that way about me. It couldn't possibly...could it? _

Zero tried to mentally piece the puzzle together. What she wanted to tell him, but couldn't. Her mumbling in her sleep. It would make sense, but...she couldn't could she?

_Even if she did feel that way about me, there's no way she would want to be with me. She's a human and I'm a vampire that craves her blood just like Level E's. _

He grabbed his gun from his belt and held the barrel under his chin, fingers laced around the trigger.

_If I end it all, I won't have to worry about hurting her anymore. _

He closed his eyes and cocked the _Bloody Rose_. After a long pause, he opened his eyes and set the gun down.

_But that would be taking the easy way out. And Kyoko would kill me if she found out. That would be hard for her to do if I was already dead, but she'd give me hell anyway. Anyway, she would probably paint my room pink. Can't have that._

With a slight chuckle, Zero left the bathroom to awaken his sleeping beauty.

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**That was shortish, sorry. Review?**


	20. His Words

His Words

Kyoko was walking with Zero down a city street, just talking. She still was debating internally about telling him that she had feelings for him. The human had already tried a few times, but just couldn't squeeze the words out. Finally, she vowed she would do it, no matter what. She just had to get it over with.

"Zero?"

"Hm?"

"You see, for a while now I-"

Zero turned to her, a pained look on his face. Then before her eyes, he fell backward and, starting with his feet, rapidly began crumbling to dust.

"ZERO?!"

Before Kyoko could get another word in, Zero was gone. Dead.

"No!" she screamed. "No, no, no! I was just going to tell you-"

She collapsed into a fit of tears, while the dust that used to be the one she loved scattered, leaving no trace of his existence.

Kyoko awoke to the wonderful sound of Zero's voice.

"Hey, wake up before you sleep your life away."

"Hello to you too, Zero," she nagged.

"Are you going to stay awake now?" he asked.

"Oh, if I absolutely _must_." the human grinned as he departed.

She wrenched herself out of the bed and stumbled after the vampire, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Pondering her dream, Kyoko had a new resolve. She had to tell him. For real this time. She couldn't miss her chance once it was gone. Her dream had shown her that. If something happened to her or Zero, she could never forgive herself for never letting him know. New-found resolve pulsed through her body.

Finding him in the living room, Kyoko stopped a few feet away from him and took a deep breath.

"Zero?"

"Yeah?" he replied. "What is it?"

This is it.

"You see, I'm quite sure when it happened, but ever since I met you, I've been able to forget my family troubles and I'm happier, but then I'm not because I tried to tell you this before, but I couldn't so I-"

"Spit it out already, Kyoko," he prodded.

"-I love you!" Kyoko announced.

If Zero looked anything, it was shocked. His face was hard to read. Was he happy to hear that, or sad? She couldn't tell. He shook his head.

"No," he said bluntly, "I-we can't. It wouldn't work out. No way. It's not like that between us."

Then he said the words she was dreading he would say.

"It can't be like that because I'm a vampire and your a human."

Kyoko's eyes started welling up with tears.

"I k-know," she stammered, "b-but I-I..."

With that she sprinted out the door. Zero tore down the hall after her. Looking around, he saw she was already gone. He raced to the threshold of the complex, but he couldn't see her anywhere.

Kyoko was already a block away, tears streaming down her face. The early-afternoon sun beat down on her.

_I was a fool to think that he could possibly return my feelings. Stupid Kyoko!_

Kyoko kept running until she could barely breathe. Then she slowed to a half-stumble until she was almost to the edge of the city. She probably looked like she was drunk, but Kyoko didn't care; she had just had her heart broken by the one guy she'd ever liked. She felt like her heart had been put through a paper shredder and drunkenly pasted back together.

Looking around, Kyoko saw she was over a mile away from Zero's apartment. He liked to live closer to the country than the city. That was good news for Kyoko, she didn't have to go far.

After another half mile of increasing grassy plains, she found herself almost upon a playground. She could see a tower with an enclosed slide wrapping itself in circles to the ground. A jungle gym sat between the slide and a set of four swings. A system of tunnels, monkey bars, forts, and bridges led up to the slide.

As Kyoko got closer, she saw exactly how old and rundown the place was. The red paint from the slide was peeling back, several rust spots mottled the once-blue gym. A few tunnels had scratches and scuff marks from years worth of climbing in, over, and around them. One of the swings had a broken chain that trailed on the ground. The surface of the playground was covered with black tar, which wasn't without its many potholes.

Kyoko stepped over to one of the swings and sat down. She could see why people had stopped coming there. There were no buildings around for at least half a mile in every direction. Most of the local inhabitants must have moved into the city, leaving this place to rust.

The human kicked softly at the ground, swinging ever so slightly.

"So no one loves you either, huh?" she mumbled to the ground.

A gentle breeze kicked up dust, swirling it in fancy patterns on the ground. A lone pebble bounced from behind Kyoko and landed in front of her. Confused and out of sorts, she looked up and was immediately met with a sharp pain in the back of her head. Losing her grip on the swing chains, Kyoko fell forward and landed face first on the slowly decomposing tar. She thought she felt a familiar feeling, but it was lost as she lost consciousness.

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**Review. . .**


	21. The Game

The Game

Kyoko cracked her eyes open, squinting to see in the darkness. A faint, flickering light cast a soft glow around her. Looking to her right, Kyoko saw that the light came from the dimly illuminated moon, the only source of light. Crisscrossed lines obscured her vision of her surroundings. After a second, the human realized where she was.

She was inside the jungle gym.

Wondering how she had gotten there in the first place, Kyoko remembered that she had blacked out on the swings. She suddenly realized she had a weird feeling about that place. Kyoko hurried to one side of the jungle gym. The top of it stretched about two feet above her head, the squarish box had sides about thirteen feet long. Being surrounded by bars made Kyoko feel like she was in a prison. It was dark out there, so she figured that she had been knocked out for quite a few hours, for nightfall had descended.

Kyoko had just reached one of the walls and was about to slip through one of the gaps when a sound caught her attention. It had been quiet, eerily quiet until then. It sounded like shoes on tar. Kyoko looked up from the bars and saw the outline of a single person. They stood about fifteen feet from Kyoko. She froze, steadily getting paranoid. If this person wanted to hurt her, she'd have to outrun them for a while before she would see another human.

As the figure stepped closer to Kyoko, she saw that it was a man. He wore a long dark overcoat, very similar to Zero's.

_Zero._

Even the thought of his name made her eyes sting. She held back tears, knowing very well that now was not the time for them.

The man was now a mere few feet from where still stood, frozen just on the other side of the metal bars. When he was directly in front of her, Kyoko could see his face more clearly. He had dark hair that flowed just past his shoulders tied up in a ponytail, and even darker eyes. Those eyes seemed to stare right through Kyoko.

"Who are you?" she squeezed out, trying not to sound as scared as she was.

He didn't answer, but simply gave her a small smile. This action had the opposite effect on Kyoko because she saw something he didn't want her to see. His teeth showed a little through the smile and the human could see the points of fangs very clearly.

"Vampire," she breathed.

She scuttled a few steps back from the vampire. His smile turned into a smirk as he disappeared. A fraction of a second, he reappeared right in front of his prey. It was as if he had jumped into the air before falling to the ground directly in front of his prey. Kyoko took a step back in surprise, and the man followed suit. He towered a full head above her. It was only then that Kyoko realized what the purpose of the jungle gym served.

As her prison.

Kyoko tried in vain to turn and ran, but she had no where to go. She was trapped inside a jungle gym with a vampire. He grabbed her wrist, allowing her minimum movement.

"So I see that you know what I am," he said.

Kyoko was silent, checking her situation. She was confined within this jungle gym, so running would be out of the question. There was no one around so if she did manage to escape somehow, the vampire would catch up with her soon after. So she had no means of escape from this Level E. But there was something strange about him. He was different from the other crazy vampires she had encountered. He seemed more...sane.

Even though she knew it was futile, Kyoko struggled against her captor's grip, trying to wrench free.

"Be still," he said with an unparalleled authority.

As if a switch had been flipped, the ebony-haired girl found that, despite her efforts, she could not move.

"You are a very lucky girl," the vampire said, releasing her wrist. Still unable to move, he twirled a finger through her black hair. "You have caught me in a delightful mood, so I shall give you a chance to live. More like a bet. Or game."

He gestured out at the rest of the playground.

"You are to conceal somewhere within this lot. I will have three tries to find you. If, after the third try, I have not found you, I will allow you to walk away, unharmed. You will have one minute to hide yourself. But, if you attempt to run instead of play along, I will catch you, and-"

Upon seeing her eyes widen, the vampire took it as a sign that she understood exactly what would happen. He stepped back and made a slight upward movement with his hand. Suddenly, it was as if a weight had been lifted off Kyoko and she found she could move. She shot her eyes up to look at him.

_He can't be serious._

With a sly smile, the vampire closed his eyes.

"One."

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**I love these chapters! Review!**


	22. Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek

Kyoko practically dove through the bars, desperate to get out of the jungle gym as fast as she could use the whole minute to conceal herself. Glancing around, she realized how few hiding places the lot had. There was the slide tower, two tunnels, and an enclosed fort. A small bush sat on the sidelines, but Kyoko didn't like the idea of hiding behind it. It would leave her open to attack on almost ever side. The Level E could sneak up behind her and she wouldn't even know it.

She considered crawling into one of the tunnels, but the faint light from the moon would probably be enough to illuminate her shadow, and therefore giving her away instantly. One of the tunnels ran into the enclosed fort. There was still enough space for Kyoko to hide so that if her captor looked down the tunnel, he wouldn't see her. But she didn't want to take that chance. She couldn't even consider making a run for it after his threat. That only left one option...

The slide tower.

The faint sound of the vampire counting softly motivated her body to move. Feet pounding silently, Kyoko sprinted to the tower. She passed the tunnels, monkey bars, and bridge. Barely slowing down, she half jumped and climbed up the side of the platform right next to her hiding place. As soon as her feet had a good grip on the platform, she raced up the steps to the slide, taking two or three at a time. Within three bounds, she ducked her head and crawled into the tower. There were two openings, one in front of her that faced the rest of the playground and the one she had just come through. After a moment's hesitation, Kyoko decided that it would be best to stay in the tower rather than lying down in the slide. To do so would risk her sliding down or squeaking as she did so. She figured it would be best if she faced the playground so she could see the vampire's progress. The human pushed her body tightly against the left wall of the turret. Her feet were pulled in so that nothing touched the light of the moon shining dimly down.

How much time had passed since he had started counting? Was she too slow? Had he seen her slip inside the tower?

"58...59...60," the man counted. "Ready or not-" an evil smirk slid onto his face.

"Here I come."

Kyoko's heart pounded wildly and she willed it to stop. If the vampire's enhanced hearing caught the sound of it, she'd be dead. Literally. She could hear the echo of her ragged breathing, and tried to steady it, making it as silent as possible. She peeked past the wall to see the said vampire vanish before reappearing just outside the jungle gym wall, the moonlight raining down on him. He was almost facing toward her, but his face was turned to the left. Suddenly, it snapped in Kyoko's direction. She instantly pulled her head back, hoping he didn't see her. She waited a minute and, when he didn't pop out of the darkness to grab her, figured that he hadn't seen her. Sneaking a peek, Kyoko saw him stride toward one of the tunnels, the one by the fort. He stopped just before reaching the tunnel and stood a good ten feet from it. Without warning, a huge crack in the middle of the tube broke it in half. The two empty three foot cylinders fell to the ground. They landed vertically, then tipped over.

When the Kyoko's form didn't fall out of the broken tunnel, the vampire announced loudly so she could hear him no matter where she had concealed herself:

"One."

A shiver ran down Kyoko's spine. This was not your everyday Level E. He could destroy things without touching them. And he had rendered her unable to move. She was almost certain that he was going to find her. There were four hiding places, five if you counted the actual slide as one. The vampire had three chances to find her. That gave her very little leeway.

He was right by the fort, so the vampire shot a glance into it, checking for his prey. Upon seeing it bare as well, it collapsed into a pile of boards and plastic.

"Two."

Kyoko felt more confident. He hadn't found her yet. Maybe she had a chance.

The predator slowly circled the lot, as if looking for a clue, anything, that would give his quarry's whereabouts away. He prowled past the bridge and other tunnel, eyes sweeping the premises. Then, he slid out of Kyoko's vision. She held her breath, hoping that he couldn't see her figure from behind. Thankfully, after a minute, he reappeared on the other side of the tower. The vampire halted. His head whipped to face the remaining tunnel and he started toward it.

Yes! Kyoko silently rejoiced. He was going to look in the tunnel! He wasn't going to find her! She was actually going to make it out of there alive.

But before the vampire could get close enough to the tunnel to see if she was there, he disappeared. Confused, Kyoko just stared. A moment later she felt a hand on her shoulder and hot breath on her neck.

"Three," the vampire's smooth voice whispered in her ear.

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**Aaahh! I love that part! Review?**


	23. The Pure Blood

The Pure Blood

Kyoko's heart sank. He pushed her and she slid down the slide awkwardly. She hit the ground hard and the dark-haired figure jumped over the railing and landed a split second later, standing over her. He picked her up, gripping her shoulders. She tried to push away, but to no avail. Instead, her hands fell to her sides. One hand brushed an odd shape on her hip. Inconspicuously raising it slightly to feel it again, Kyoko realized what she was touching.

_Treacherous Ivy._

She remembered that she must have subconsciously tucked the vampire-killer into the waistband of her capris when she got dressed that morning.

"Did you even try to hide yourself, human?" the vampire questioned. "Your blood was pulsing so loudly I could hear it all the way across the playground."

"You knew?" squeaked out Kyoko, trying to hide the fact that she had an anti-vampire weapon.

"From the moment I started after you I knew. I just thought I'd let you think you could actually win, naïve human."

Despite her situation, this little tidbit of information really ticked off Kyoko. He'd just been messing with her the whole time. She wrested unexpectedly out of his grip. Kyoko pulled out the gun and pointed it at the vampire. The weapon fired, hitting him in the shoulder. A few inches of fabric were blown off upon impact, revealing his broken skin. Before her eyes, the human watched as the vampire's skin healed seconds after the bullet punctured it. It didn't even have time to bleed.

Turning, she sprinted away from the slide. Kyoko made it to the grass before she felt her feet slipping on the evening dew. She fell to the ground, twisting her ankle and the _Treacherous Ivy_ flew out of her hand and landing several feet away. Kyoko started to push herself up, but the sharp pain of her tender ankle shot unexpectedly up her leg, paralyzing her. Knowing that death in the form a certain somebody was sure to be on her heels, she forced herself to her feet as quickly as she could, grimacing in pain. She tried to take a step, but it was too much for her. It was all she could do to stay standing.

The vampire was sure to use her sudden disadvantage to his advantage. She felt his presence and rotated as efficiently as she could without causing herself too much. When she had finally accomplished a one-eighty, Kyoko saw he wasn't there.

A twig snapped behind her and her head whipped around to see that the vampire was directly behind her. His eyes had a slight reddish glow around the edges, signaling his hunger. It also meant one other thing.

The time for games was over.

He grabbed her roughly from behind, almost crushing her in the embrace. One hand captured both of her wrists, the other pushed her hair over her shoulder and out of the way. It then cradled her neck, tilting it back. Immobile and with piercing pain in her ankle, Kyoko was forced to lean on her captor. His tongue flicked across her skin once before he pressed his mouth to almost kiss her jugular vein.

Time seemed to trickle by as the human tried to fight both pain and fear of what was going to happen to her. All those times she'd narrowly avoided being killed by Level E's. Zero's training to help her stand a chance. The fact that it was futile now that her ankle made her useless. Her only other chance of survival lay in the grass just a few yards away.

She was going to die here, in this abandoned playground, at the hands of a vampire and everything Zero had taught her couldn't help her one bit. Everything he had done for her was in vain, useless, pointless. At the thought of failing Zero, tears stung at her eyes.

The vampire opened his mouth and slid his tongue slowly once more across her neck. His fangs were bared and pressed against her skin, about to bite.

"I'm sorry Zero," she whimpered.

A gunshot rang through the evening air. A warning shot.

"You'd better be, making me come all the way out here to save you again," said a cool, but agitated voice.

Her captor withdrew his face from her neck and turned them around slowly. Sure enough, standing not even twenty feet away, was none other than Zero Kiryu. His arm was vertical, with the _Bloody Rose_ pointing up at the sky. As usual, he donned dark pants and a white button-up shirt. The tears brimming Kyoko's eyes spilled over upon the sight. Zero saw the two tears sliding down her beautiful face and lowered his gun so it was aimed at the other vampire.

Kyoko tried to break away from the arms of her confinement to Zero. The vampire simply restrained her without too much effort placing her between himself and the gun.

"Now, now," he purred, "where do you get off just interrupting like that? And threatening me with that gun of yours. I think you need to learn some manners, vampire hunter."

"Zero, look out!" cried Kyoko desperately. "He's different from the other ones, he can destroy things without touching them!"

Just then, the ground at Zero's feet exploded, but her warning gave him time to jump out of the way. His gun, however, never strayed from the direction of his opposition.

"Hey, now why would you go telling him my secret? Zero, hm? You wouldn't happen to be Zero Kiryu, would you?"

"The one and only" was his reply. "And since we're doing introductions, I suppose you wouldn't mind telling me yours before I kill you."

"I'll tell you, but I'm not the one who will be dying tonight. It will take more than one young hunter to kill Kou Kuragari."

Zero's lavender eyes widened for a second before narrowing. He pulled the trigger and the bullet whizzed just over Kyoko's shoulder, barely grazing Kou's shoulder.

"You're very good for your age and...condition," he complimented. "But not good enough."

"Condition?" Zero questioned through tight lips.

Kou slid a finger along Kyoko's neck, cutting her slightly. A drop of blood welled up slowly and rolled down her skin. Zero's eyes flashed red at the sight and smell.

"See? Not so invincible, are you, almighty hunter?"

"Shut up, pure blood!" Zero shouted, firing another shot. This one totally missed because he shot it out of pure anger.

Kyoko was taken aback. She had never seen him lose it, especially in front of a vampire.

"Pure blood?" she echoed.

"Kyoko! Whatever you do, don't let him bite you! If he does-"

"You'll end up just like him." finished the pure blood. "If I leave you in any shape to be able to survive, that is. I wouldn't count on it, though. I must say, you do smell...mesmerizing. You don't mind if I have a taste do you?"

Kyoko tried to resist, but he cast another blanket of immobility over her. He took his finger and wiped off the blood on her neck. The vampire licked it and a smile crossed his face.

"Wonderful," he cooed. "Now, if you don't mind, I would simply love to drink this girl's blood, so if you'll excuse us."

"I don't think so, Kuragari," Zero objected. "That's _my_ human and I don't intend on letting anyone else her blood. Especially sadistic vampires like _you_."

"Then why don't you try and stop me," challenged the darker-haired vampire.

Then the pure blood's ripped open Kyoko's side. She gasped with the additional pain and fell to her knees. She toppled over onto her uninjured side, clutching her wound. Blood began seeping through her clothes and staining the grass.

"Kyoko!" Zero shouted, rushing towards her.

"Not so fast, young hunter," said the other one, stepping between the hunter and human. "If you want to save your friend, you'll have to kill me first. That is, if you can fight the increasing smell of blood."

With that, he lifted his hand, dripping with Kyoko's blood and licked it clean. Zero growled and fired at him as his eyes changed to blood red. The pure blood dodged them easily and attacked the hunter. Kyoko watched, powerless, as the pure blood and former human tackled each other. They rolled on the ground, fighting to get the advantage. Once, Zero was about to shoot, but the _Bloody Rose_ was knocked out of his hand. It flew several yards before landing with a faint thump. That left Zero to duel without it.

Meanwhile, Kyoko's side kept bleeding. She noticed Zero's delayed reactions as he fought both the pure blood and the urge to drink her blood. The stench of her blood steadily filled up more of the air by the minute.

Zero visibly started losing it. More of the other vampire's attacks hit him and his kicks and punches stopped hitting him.

Kyoko grew weaker from the loss of blood. Her head fell to the ground and that's when she saw it: _Treacherous Ivy_. Zero was too engaged in his fight to try to regain his weapon. She slowly pulled herself across the grass to where her gun lay. Each pull strained her injury. After a few feet, she couldn't even feel the pain anymore.

Finally reaching the firearm, Kyoko picked it up and aimed. At the moment, Zero and the Kuragari vampire were rolling around on the ground again, trying to get the upper hand. It was a tricky shot. Since Zero was a vampire too, if her bullet strayed and hit him, he would die instead.

Kyoko's hand shook at the chance of accidentally killing Zero. Steading her shaking hand, she waited for a gap to shoot the pure blood. The two vampires were rolling toward her when Zero finally stopped them thirty feet away from the intensely bleeding human. He leaned over Kou, hands around his throat. Kyoko aimed and pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit the pure blood square in the head and he crumbled to dust beneath Zero. Surprised, he glanced to his right to see Kyoko half-sitting up, the _Treacherous Ivy_'s barrel smoking.

"Zero," she mumbled and, before his eyes, her eyes closed and she collapsed to the ground.

"Kyoko!" was the last thing she heard before slipping away from the throbbing pain and into the darkness.

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	24. The Hardest Part of Saying Good Bye

The Hardest Part of Saying Good Bye...

When Kyoko opened her eyes, all she could see was white. For a moment, she thought she was either dead, or back in Zero's apartment. Then she remembered that her and Zero had both repainted his apartment, so it wasn't white anymore. She tried to sit up, but her side burned like no tomorrow, so she figured she wasn't dead either. An annoying beeping sound met her ears.

_Be-ep...be-ep...be-ep._

_Okay, enough with the beeping already!_

Kyoko glanced to her left to see what could possibly be making that awful sound. She saw a screen with a line running parallel to the ground. Every time it beeped, the line shot up and down, then kept going straight until the next beep.

_Oh. I'm in a hospital._

She lifted her hand to scratch her head, but saw that a needle was sticking out of her skin. Kyoko shuddered seeing it. She'd always hated needles and knowing that one was poking out of her just sent a wave of goosebumps over her body. She gingerly placed a hand on her wounded side, wincing as the pressure sent waves of pain through her body. Clenching her teeth, Kyoko could feel the slight bumps through the fabric of her hospital gown that was a bandage. A large cloth had been wrapped around her waist, protecting the injury from further harm. A bucket of water sat under a table, and the black-haired girl could see parts of bandages through the faintly pinkish water. Her wrap had to be changed often, she guessed, so that the cloth wouldn't stick to the wound when it was healing. It would take much longer to heal and be more likely to scar if the scab had to keep being ripped open again. The greatly diluted blood from the bandages grossed her out, so the human looked away.

Looking around, Kyoko saw that her hospital room consisted of the annoying beeping machine, an IV stand, and a curtain that could be drawn around her bed. There was also a chair for visitors pulled up to her bed, and sitting in it was Zero Kiryu, asleep.

His face seemed drawn, as if he was many years older than he really was. His chin rested on his chest, which periodically rose and fell with his breathing. Surprisingly, he still wore the same clothes as when he had saved her from the pure blood. Kyoko had no idea how much time had passed. It could have been a few hours or a couple days.

Bored, Kyoko decided to have some fun. She poked him in the arm once, twice, three times. He stirred slightly, but didn't wake up. Then, the human flicked his cheek, hard. Zero began waking up and Kyoko quickly lay down again and pretended to be asleep.

She could hear him groaning as he woke up, the rustling of his clothes, then, silence.

Time for some fun.

"Zero..." she mumbled, as if in her sleep.

To her surprise, he picked up her hand,the one without the needle, with one of his own, though slightly colder and pressed his mouth to it. She expected to feel the faint sting and bite of his fangs as they sank into her skin, but instead felt his lips kissing her hand, softly.

"Kyoko, I..." he trailed off.

A minute of silence passed.

"Are you going to finish that sentence?" she asked impatiently.

"You heard?!" he exclaimed, letting her hand fall back onto the sheets.

"Yeah! I've been awake this whole time."

Zero blushed. I mean actually blushed.

Silence fell between them.

"How did you find me?" Kyoko finally asked.

"You ran away before I could catch up to you. So I started asking people if they had seen you and got the general direction. Then it started getting darker and I still hadn't found you, I knew I had to hurry. You always get into trouble when I leave you alone. So when night fell, the vampire part of me strengthened my senses and I was eventually able to find you. Although when I saw your situation, I must admit, I was pretty angry."

"Why? That someone else was going to drink my blood?" snarled Kyoko.

"No! That you had, once again, gotten yourself into a mess and I had to get you out. Why would you say that?" he demanded.

"You rejected me!" she half-yelled. Tears formed in her eyes. "You said we couldn't be together, it wouldn't work out, that it's not like that between us! I had so many doubts about my feelings. I knew it wouldn't be natural for us to be together, but then you went and said that!"

"Said what?!"

"That the reason we couldn't be together is because you're a vampire and I'm a human! Why? Why does it have to be because of that? Why should that matter? If we love each other then-"

"But we don't," Zero stated bluntly. "This cold heart froze seven years ago."

During the conversation, the beeping on the monitor had become more rapid.

"I think I should leave. It appears that I'm stressing you out. You need to rest," he said, heading for the door.

"You're just running away again! Stop, Zero!"

She grabbed for his sleeve, not letting him go anywhere.

"Then look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't love me," she challenged.

He turned to face her. His eyes met her and they locked. It stayed that way for a moment, then he took a long breath.

"I don't love you."

Shock hit Kyoko like a frying pan. She hadn't expected him to say that, at least not as coldly. Her hand holding Zero's sleeve fell back to her side. He turned and walked to the door, and she just stared after him, not trying to stop him. At the doorway, he stopped and looked at her one last time before disappearing out of the room completely.

"Good bye."

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**Review! Please? Please? PLEASE!**


	25. Is Not Having To

...Is Not Having To

Kyoko could hear the sound of his footsteps get quieter and recede almost completely. It only took her another second to decide what to do.

"Fool," she declared. "You can't get away that easily."

Wincing from her wounded side, the human flung off her sheets. She wrenched herself from the confinements of her bed and started for the door. A sharp pain in her hand reminded her that she still had that annoying needle stuck in her. Painfully, Kyoko grabbed the needle and ripped it out of her body. The screen on the wall let out a long beep as the line ceased jumping up and down, and ran parallel to the ground. Flinching as a little bit of blood began to ooze out, she hobbled to the door. Looking right, then left, she saw Zero walking away from her room. The hunter was about halfway down the hallway, the distance increasing by the footstep.

Bare feet pounding on the cold floor, Kyoko ran as hard as she could toward Zero. Oh, was she mad. Mad didn't even begin to describe it. More like furious. That idiot was running away from her again. She would die before she let him get away this easily. When she was a few feet from him, he suddenly stopped. Because of his unexpected halt, Kyoko ran into him, jostling her injured side.

"What was that for?" she asked angrily, gasping for breath and holding her wound.

"Dang it," he swore, seemingly talking to himself. "I couldn't make it out in time."

At first, Kyoko thought he was talking about not getting out of the hospital before she caught up to him. Then, three dark figures appeared out of nowhere, blocking their path twenty feet ahead. They all wore identical, long black overcoats. The middle one, apparently the leader, had short spiky hair and stood the tallest. He was flanked by a long-haired brunette on his right and a man with a black ponytail on the left.

"Zero Kiryu," the blond one said. "You are charged with killing the pure blood Kou Kuragari and are therefore sentenced to death."

"What?!" Kyoko exclaimed, her anger for Zero temporarily absent. "He saved my life! That pure blood was going to kill me! If Zero hadn't got there to distract him-"

"Killing a pure blood is one of the greatest taboos in the vampire world," the ebony guy explained. "Therefore he will be punished. His life in exchange for Kuragari's. It's hardly fair, seeing as his life is so...meaningless."

"Kyoko," Zero begged, trying to push her behind him and out of the way, "stay out of this."

"But Zero wasn't even the one who killed him, I did!" Kyoko blurted out.

Silence fell across the hallway.

"So it was you who killed our master?" inquired the brunette. "Fine, then we'll kill you after we're finished with him."

All three men lunged at Zero, fangs bared. Kyoko jumped in front of him, arms stretched out to shield him from the attack.

"No!" she cried.

They didn't even get close enough to touch her. Three loud bangs filled the air, followed by the three vampires crumbling to dust. When the debris finally settled to the ground, three separate piles of former-vampire sat on the cool white floor. Zero lowered his gun from over Kyoko's shoulder.

"Why?" she asked, her voice trembling, not from fear, but with menace. "Why did you save my life just now, if you don't care about me?"

"Well, I couldn't just let them kill you after the doctors put so much work into keeping you alive," Zero said indifferently.

She turned to look at him, her anger clearly splayed across her face.

"Then you just should've let that pure blood kill me."

Her nails dug painfully into her side, drawing blood. For the first time, Zero seemed to realize that the smell of her blood was in the air. He'd been too preoccupied with the vampires to notice the little bit of blood running down her hand.

"What're you doing?!" he demanded.

"Why should you care?" Kyoko said bitterly, pushing her way past him back toward her hospital room. The silence lasted until she had only made it a few feet away from the humter.

"Because I do love you!"

She stopped, shocked.

"But you said-" Kyoko started, turning.

"I lied," Zero admitted. "I've held back my feelings for you because I didn't think that you felt the same way. But then when you told me yesterday, I couldn't believe it. I don't deserve to be loved for what I am, a monster."

"But you're not," Kyoko stepped in. "You idiot, when will you ever see that? I love you no matter what you are! If you were a disease-ridden rat I'd still love you."

Zero took a few steps toward her, closing the distance between them. He grabbed Kyoko around her waist, the unhurt part, and pulled her close. Her breath caught in her throat at the intimacy. Zero leaned down slowly and stopped hesitantly, his lips not even an inch from the humans. Then he finished the movement by kissing her.

Kyoko was so happy, she could've screamed, but that would have meant breaking away from Zero. She could feel the very tips of his fangs as they kissed and blushed.

After a few moments, they broke apart.

"I love you, Kyoko," Zero told her.

Kyoko wound up her hand and slapped Zero. His face turned red where her palm made contact with his face.

"What was that for?!"

"For not telling me that sooner."

He took a moment before responding.

"A rat, huh?"

"Oh, shut up," she grinned, pulling him into another kiss. His hand returned to her waist, the other holding her face. Her arm somehow found its way around his neck. The two stayed like that for a while, just happy to be together, finally. When the kiss ended, Zero brushed Kyoko's hair out of her face.

"Shall we go home?" he asked.

"Yes," she agreed.

The two had barely moved ten feet before a nurse came bustling down the hallway, a nervous wreck.

"Miss! Miss, you can't leave yet! You have to stay for at least a couple more days until you're mostly healed!"

"Oh, I think she's fine," Zero soothed. "Don't worry, I'll take over from here."

With that, the couple left the astounded nurse to stand in the hallway. They walked happily away from her, Zero's arm around Kyoko's waist, her head resting on his shoulder.

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**Almost done, so review!**


	26. Epilogue: Just Like Us

Well, here it is, the last chapter of _Hunter or Hunted_. Actually it's the epilogue, but whatever. Now I'm going to start writing my other fanfics. I think the next one will be a short one based off of Matsuri Hino's _Wanted_. It will probably only be a few chapter long, but oh well. Be sure to review and keep an eye out for my next story!

So, without further ado, here's the final installment of _Hunter or Hunted._

Epilogue: Just Like Us

A dark-haired woman in her early thirties strolled along the forest path. Her long ebony black hair was tied back in a ponytail that reached halfway down her green t-shirt. The tennis shoes she wore barely made a sound as she continued down the walkway toward her house.

It was about mid-afternoon, and the late April air was warm. Very few cherry trees still blossomed this late in the season. However, there was also the occasional tree with a few of the little jewels. The ground was littered with the ones that had already departed from their branches. They had settled onto the earth, creating a flowery blanket. Now, a fair number were starting to decay, and turning brown at the edges.

The woman continued her journey through the woods. Her eyes kept sweeping the ground in front of her, the trees on either side of her, and up in the canopy above. It was almost as if...she was expecting an attack. Which she was. She was waiting for-

Just then, a small, hooded figure dropped to the ground in front of her. Their face was covered by the hood, concealing their identity. The intruder also wore jeans, a t-shirt, and was bare foot. Moments later, the woman was flanked on either side by two almost identically-sized bodies. They too, were hooded and bare foot. All three encircled the woman, trapping her.

"Very clever," she praised, "but you'll have to do better if you think you can catch me that easily."

With that, all three lunged at her. Timing it perfectly, she gracefully jumped high into the air. Her attackers all ran into each other below her. She landed, untouched, a few yards away.

"Ow," mumbled one of them as they tried to untangle themselves.

"That's _me_ you idiot!"

"Now, now," chastised the woman. "Fighting amongst yourselves won't get you anywhere."

Then she began running away from them as fast as she could. The trees were just a mere blur as she focused on putting as much distance between herself and the three hooded figures. After a little bit, she heard the sound of three sets of footsteps from behind. Glancing back, she saw that they were on her trail, about thirty feet away.

Another person dropped down from a tree on her left and began running alongside her.

"Took you long enough," Kyoko said.

"Oh, but you seemed to be having so much fun," Zero chipped in.

The two raced side by side, turning left and right at the same time. They didn't have to tell each other when to swerve right or left, they just knew. After a long minute of running, they slowed to a stop.

"Do you think we lost them yet?" asked the human.

"I don't think so, they're probably just trying to catch up," the hunter guessed. "Either that, or they're getting ready to attack again."

"If they do, we'll be ready for them."

"Dang right."

They stood back to back and slowly turned in circles, taking n their surroundings. Trees encircled the small clearing they found themselves in, creating a fence-like resemblance. A stick somewhere to Kyoko's left snapped, and both her and Zero shot glances at it. While they were turned away, the tallest of the hooded figures charged them from the other direction. When they realized their mistake and whipped their heads to face the opponent, another one attacked from the left. Finally, the last one ran up from the underbrush. Zero fought the first to appear, while Kyoko dueled with the second, both occasionally fighting their own quarry and the third.

Zero dodged a high kick from his attacker and knocked them back with a firm push. They stumbled back, annoyed and went on the defense. The experience hunter easily overwhelmed his opponent, forcing them to retreat behind a tree. He then proceeded to move on to the shortest figure. Meanwhile, Kyoko also overcame her own pursuer. They too, receded to the safety of the tall groves. Without taking a second to breathe, she joined in with Zero. Together, the two of them pushed the last of their attackers into the foliage.

They stood there, waiting for the next move. When nothing happened, the couple relaxed. As soon as their guard was dropped, all three figures once again attacked. Kyoko and Zero leaped into the air, allowing the three to collide once again. Landing softly just outside the pile of bodies, much to the dismay of the hooded ones, sat down on them, trapping them.

"We win," they spoke in unison, standing up.

Brushing back their hoods, the figures revealed themselves to their parents. The oldest, Karin, had inherited her mother's black hair and green eyes. At only nine years old, she was the quickest thinking of the Kiryu children. The other two, Shen and Jun, resembled their father. Both had Zero's silver hair and lavender eyes. Even though Shen was almost a full year older than Jun, the two were often mistaken for being twins. The almost-eight and just-seven year old boys were almost identical, with their hair, eyes, and height. Jun was only a hair's breadth shorter than his brother and they did almost everything together.

"I thought we were going to pass for sure this time," said Jun.

"Yes, you certainly did very well," complimented Kyoko. "But you three weren't without your mistakes."

"Like falling for the same trick twice," Zero added. "Hunters have to be aware at all times, and quick on their feet. You're all young and it will still be a few years before you can even hope of standing a chance against your mother and I."

The adults smiled at their disappointed children. Amazingly, all three of them were human. They figured that since Zero was born a human, his transformation into a vampire hadn't changed his DNA so much as for his kids to be part vampire. Kyoko and Zero had decided not to tell their children about their father being a vampire until they were older. They had to be especially careful when Zero needed blood. He bit Kyoko more often, but drank less at a time than in past years so his eyes wouldn't flash red from hunger or when Jun scraped his knee.

The newlywed Kiryu's had built a large house out in the middle of the country. It was surrounded by acres of meadow and woods, perfect training places to keep their skills razor sharp and also for their children.

"Uncle" Yagari would visit from time to time, which the Kiryu family always enjoyed. Shen and Jun had especially taken a liking to the famous hunter and looked up to him as a role model. He would occasionally agree to give a lesson on being a vampire hunter. That always put the pupils in a delightful mood. Both parents also thought that it was good Yagari to be teaching again, it seemed to make him happy as well.

Zero and Kyoko's smiles vanished as they felt an unusual presence. Instinctively, the adults stood protectively around their offspring, eyes searching for the source for the source of the disturbance.

"What is it, daddy?" asked Jun, nervous.

"Shh," Zero told him. "Keep your guards up."

The five of them rotated in a protective circle, backs to each other. After a few minutes, nothing had happened. Not so much as a leave moved on the trees, and Jun relaxed a little bit. But Zero and Kyoko were as alert as ever. Thirteen years had passed since that incident with the pure blood. In that time, they had never forgotten how dangerously close Kyoko had been to being killed or turned into a vampire. Oh, and in those thirteen years, Kyoko had also become an official vampire hunter.,

Then it happened. A dark form launched itself from the undergrowth. It aimed for the human between Kyoko and Zero: Jun. Kyoko pushed her youngest son out of the way and Karin grabbed her other brother. The three watched as their mother kicked the attacker in the chest, sending him flying back into a the trunk of a tree. The tree shook slightly from the force of being rammed into. Karin, Shen, and Jun gathered behind their parents and they all took in the sight.

The attacker pushed himself up from the ground. He wore ragged pants and a dirty shirt. His messy shoulder-length brown hair covered part of his face, but they could all see his eyes, even in broad daylight.

Red eyes.

"Level E," murmured Kyoko under her breath.

The kids were, quite frankly, a little shocked. This was the first Level E they had ever seen. But, after all the training they had gone through throughout their lives, they knew what they had to do. Crouching into defensive positions like their parents, the Kiryu children prepared themselves, mentally and physically for the fight that was about to ensue.

Both Zero and Kyoko saw their actions out of the corner of their eyes and had to smile to themselves.

"They're certainly growing up fast, aren't they?" Kyoko said.

"Yes, they most definitely are," commented Zero.

Not giving the Level E any more time to compose itself, it met the wrath of the entire Kiryu family. Zero jumped first, and the insane vampire had to move quickly to avoid the attack. But he wasn't fast enough to dodge the three small missiles that launched themselves at him next. Karin kicked him back just as her mother had, sending him back into another tree. Shen quickly followed, knocking the Level E's breath of him with one well-aimed punch. Jun's foot made contact with his face. This, of all the attacks, seemed to anger the vampire the most. He reached for the seven-year old, but was immediately picked up and flipped over onto the hard ground by Kyoko.

"I," she hissed from a few feet away, shielding Jun, "will never allow my children to be touched by anyone like _you_."

With a quick flash of silver, Kyoko fired a shot at the Level E.

**BLAM!**

The vampire instantly disintegrated into dust. Looking up form the slightly smoking _Treacherous Ivy_, Kyoko saw that Zero's _Bloody Rose_ was also smoking.

"Nice shot," remarked Zero, grinning.

"You too," Kyoko smiled.

"Dude," Jun and Shen exclaimed, "that was _awesome_!"

Everyone laughed at the boys' comment as the hunters tucked their weapons back into their belts.

"Alright, I don't know about you three," Zero started, "but I'm hungry."

"Me too!" the boys said in unison.

"Okay, enough excitement for one day," said Kyoko. "Lunch time!"

"Race you to the house!"

"Last one there's a Level E!"

Kyoko and Zero watched as their three kids sprinted toward the house. Kyoko turned to face her husband. She saw the slightest tinge of red beginning to show around the edges of his irises.

"I thought you might have meant that," she said, pushing her hair out of the way.

"Well, too much excitement takes a lot out of a guy," Zero said, cradling his wife's neck.

He bit down gently on her neck. A little bit of blood began to ooze from the holes, and he lapped it up.

This brought back memories. Kyoko remembered when they first returned from the hospital thirteen years ago. She had stumbled on the way to her bed, accidentally catching the curtain that separated the room as she fell. She remembered seeing the room, as if for the first time. One half was Zero's turquoise-blue, the other, Kyoko's orange. Each looked fine on its own. But when she first saw the two together, she thought they would clash horribly. Instead, they seemed to fit each other perfectly, creating harmony.

Zero didn't drink much, only about a mouthful, before giving the wound a final lick, healing it. He had learned that little trick shortly after Karin was born. It was a necessity so that the kids wouldn't see the bite marks on Kyoko's neck.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked her.

"Oh, I was just remembering our bedroom in your old apartment."

"What about it?"

"Remember when I fell, and the curtain ripped off the rod?"

"Yeah," Zero laughed.

"Well, I was thinking about how the turquoise and orange would seem terrible when put together, but in actuality, they were perfect together."

"Just like us," Zero said, kissing her.

They started after their children, Zero's arm around her waist and hers around his. Kyoko lay her head on Zero's shoulder.

_Yeah. Just like us._

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**Well, that's it except for a few extra chapters I'll add. Please reivew!**


	27. Her Fire Alternative Chapter

I received this chapter in an email from my friend, Omness. I think it's a hilarious interpretation of an alternative way to write Chapter 9: Her Fire. So review and check out Omness's profile at .net/u/2073893/. Review! So without further ado I present, courteous of Omness, Her Fire Alternative Chapter!

Her Fire Alternative Chapter

Kyoko twisted in the vampire's grip, trying to break free. He noticed the band-aid on her neck and peeled it off

"Hm, it appears someone else already got to you. But it seems they were kind enough to leave some for me. I should be thankful for that."

He removed his hand from her mouth and instead held her chin with it, and tilted her head to the right. She could feel his breath on her neck.

_Not again._

Kyoko lifted her foot and kicked him, hard. He loosened his grip for a split second, but immediately resumed his previous hold, only tighter.

"Got a little fight in you, huh?" he cackled. The vampire dragged one of his nails across her neck, leaving a thin, red line. He bent his head and licked it.

_A few minutes earlier in Kyoko's apartment_

Zero had successfully managed to grab Kyoko's toothbrush and toothpaste from above the bathroom sink.

"_I wonder if there is anything else I need to grab in here." _Zero wondered when he spotted a cabinet sitting across the toilet. It pulled open the door to look inside what found was the basic stuff, shampoo, lotion, conditioner, and.. _"What's this?"_ there was a small box in there he didn't recognize. Zero reached in to pull it out, getting a good look at the box he froze, and a blush started to crawl up his cheeks.

When all of a sudden the hairs on the back of his neck rose, causing him to look out the window.

In a last ditch attempt to escape Kyoko looked for anything that might help her, a weapon or a distraction.

A crash sounded from above and a shower of glass rained down around them. Zero dropped down in front of Kyoko a box in his hand, the vampire holding Kyoko lifted his head to see what the commotion was. To see a rather annoyed looking Zero winding up his arm he threw the small package hitting the Level E straight in the face.

"I thought I told you not to get into trouble," he reminded Kyoko, while reaching for his gun.

"Oh, but I just couldn't help myself," Kyoko said sarcastically.

Zero gave a small, rare smile and it made Kyoko nearly forget how much danger she was in.

"And who the heck are you?" inquired the vampire, who had Kyoko captive.

"A hunter, and the last you'll ever see," said Zero, raising the _Bloody Rose_ so it was level with his head.

"Is that so?" snarled the vampire. "But I think that you are forgetting that I possess something of yours."

"Let her go," ordered Zero.

"But she would make such a delicious dessert after that yummy little girl from the other day."

"Wait." Kyoko said. "You mean...the girl from the poster...?"

"Oh, yes, she was about as sweet as they come," reminisced the vampire.

Kyoko was outraged.

_An innocent, little, defenseless girl?!_

"Why you!"

Kyoko jabbed him as hard as she could with both elbows and kicked him. He let go long enough for her to wriggle away from him to Zero. She turned, fire burning in her eyes. Zero shot and hit the Level E in the hip; he sank to the ground, clutching his side. She tried to lunge at him, but Zero held her back.

"Let me go, Zero!" she demanded. "I'm gonna kill him!"

"No, you're not," he stated. "I won't let you."

"Why the heck not?!"

"It's not your place to extinguish this lowlife's life," he explained.

"I don't care! He murdered a little girl! Let me at him!" Kyoko snapped.

Tired from struggling she stopped and leaned against Zero for support.

"Fine. Then at least let me see that damned red glow leave his eyes," she smoldered.

Zero aimed and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshot filled the alley with its echo. The vampire crumbled to dust.

Panting from exertion, Kyoko turned to face Zero, also noticing the box he had thrown with the contents of hygiene products scattered.

"I think you were right. I'm permanently moving in with you." Then Kyoko smiled, "By the way, nice choice of weapon."


End file.
